Progeny
by dondena
Summary: Some members of the PIT crew who are scientists and doctors of animal genetics, but in a good way, want to help the Manhattan Clan with their numbers, and it requires some testing first, even if it goes beyond what nature intended.
1. Gargoyle Facts

In the city of New York, there was a group of winged warriors that protected the city by night, and were stone by day. They were called Gargoyles. Of the main clan that lived atop David Xanatos' castle skyscraper, there were currently just seven. Six were actual gargoyles. One was gar-beast; their watchdog and pet. There were five males and one female gargoyle. The beast was a male too.

The leader, a giant, lavender colored male and the female, his daughter, were named Goliath and Angela. Goliath had been named by the humans of the 900s he had lived with so long ago before a spell was cast on him and his clan to sleep for a thousand years to wake up here in Manhattan. He had at one time been mated to a female named Demona.

His daughter, Angela, had been raised and named by the humans from long ago when the original clan had been all but destroyed, leaving very few survivors. She also had 35 other rookery siblings on a magical island called Avalon.

The old brown male with the sword and wearing the most clothes was named Hudson, after the Hudson River. He had been the original leader before passing it on to Goliath.

Next were three younger males known as the Trio that had also survived the murders of their clan. The red one was called Brooklyn. He was the leader and the fastest one. He was also the only one that had a beak for a mouth. Goliath had also chosen him to be his second in command. Brooklyn was like a brick red color, with a mane of white hair behind the horns on his head, and had black on the backs of his wings. He did like things like motorcycles.

The small green male was called Lexington. He was the one that was the most techno savvy. He was also great close friends with Xanatos' young son, Alex. His wings were also different from the others because they were attached between his arms and legs while all the others' were attached to their backs. It was similar to a flying squirrel's gliding.

The big turquoise male was a bit obese and named Broadway. He was their main cook and could make a meal out of anything just about. He was the biggest and tallest of the Trio. Broadway also had caught Angela's attention. Unknowingly, he was also Hudson's son too. He looked a lot like Hudson's long dead mate.

The Trio had grown up as brothers. Not biological brothers, just friends. Close friends. But now that they were young adults, they were growing apart, but still staying as friends. Their lives just had more responsibilities than when they were younger and because they had such a small number in the clan.

And their pet was a big blue creature that lacked wings at all and couldn't talk. He almost resembled Broadway a little bit in the face and ears. He barked like a dog too. He was also able to track like a dog could as well. He was very protective of his clan. His name was Bronx. Brooklyn had named him the night they had all chosen their own names.

The gargoyles were close with a woman cop. Her name was Elisa Maza. She dressed more as an ordinary person than an officer of the law though. She was also real close with Goliath, like boyfriend and girlfriend. They didn't care that they were different. That was just what made their relationship all the more special.

Goliath's ex-mate, Demona was Angela's mother and immortal. Thanks to a magical spell, she could turn human during the day. She also shared a magical link with a human named Macbeth. They were both immortal. No one could kill them except each other. Macbeth had named Demona back when they were allies and friends back when they were newer to know each other personally.

Demona hated all humans and rarely ever formed alliances with any. Sooner or later, she was always betrayed, or she betrayed them. She had lived so long on her own it was hard to trust anyone. Even her old clan hated her because she had betrayed and used them too many times. She had deep fire-red hair, blue skin, and purple wings.

Demona had also brought to life, along with Xanatos, a cyborg gargoyle that had three souls from the original clan. Two males and a female. A blue male and the pinkish female were mates while the brown male was evil and just lived to break them up. He wanted the female for himself.

The cyborg gargoyle had been named Coldstone, and his rookery siblings later came to be called Coldfire and Coldsteel. Coldfire was the female. At least they all had their own bodies, if having to be robotic beings.

David Xanatos was married to a redheaded woman named Fox, but her real name was Janine. Her maiden name was Reynard. She was the mother of Alexander, their son. He had been an enemy upon first bringing the gargoyles to New York, and had been for a long time, until the night his son was born. Then he became an ally. And when the clan needed him most, after they lost their home at the clock tower, he had rescued them and brought them to his skyscraper and they reclaimed their original castle home.

And there was a man servant who was a magical being underneath the butler disguise. His name was Owen Burnett. His magical person's name was Puck. Owen could only become Puck to teach Alex about his magical abilities, and to protect him. He had been permanently banished from Avalon by his old master, Oberon.

Oberon had a queen too. Queen Titania happened to be Fox's mother and Alex's grandmother. She dropped in from time to time. But the magical beings were forbidden from directly interfering in human affairs, decreed by Oberon.

…..

All of the gargoyles possessed great strength; the ability to climb walls of stone or metal; had sharp teeth; had long tails to use like a weapon and third hand; and their eyes glowed when they got angry or injured because it was caused by adrenaline rushes. Males' eyes glowed white, and females' eyes glowed red.

Gargoyles' ears could come in a range of shapes, from just pointed, more pointed than a human's, to a more sea creature shape. They had real good hearing and could even move them too, and it helped express emotions a bit more as well.

Their vision was usually really good. Hence, they could see in the dark. They just couldn't see that well in pitch blackness.

They used their wings for gliding instead of flying. They could also be used as weapons sometimes, to knock an opponent away, or to block debris from getting to their face or body.

Their skin was a bit thicker than a human's too. They looked more reptilian, but had traits in common with humans. They had some mammal traits too, like the hair and female gargoyles had breasts. The thicker skin of a gargoyle also kept them warmer in the wintertime too. But it could still be pierced and bled. Their blood was red like most other creature's blood.

When it came to their breeding habits, if a clan was wiped out, they didn't reproduce real fast either. It seemed like there was always a smaller number of females compared to males.

Gargoyles could only get pregnant every twenty years naturally. It occurred only in the 8th year of every even decade. Females laid only one egg at a time, and only three times in her life. They carried their eggs for six months.

The mated pairs began mating in the fall and the females carried their eggs through the winter months, laying them on the spring equinox. The eggs were incubated underground in a rookery, and it took the eggs ten years to hatch. And the hatching date was also on the spring equinox too of the 8th year of a decade, but the uneven years. The eggs were a purple color with some purple spots on them.

The mother gargoyles usually breastfed the little ones after hatching for awhile. In the old days, the whole clan took responsibility for the young ones. The babies weren't singled out to just one pair of parents like with most other creatures. But each baby had only a pair of biological parents, of course. Angela had proved that with Goliath and Demona as her birth parents.

Gargoyles aged at half the rate of humans, so it took a gargoyle 36 years to become the equivalent of an 18 year old human.

The one big weakness that they had was the ability to turn to stone during the day. It could be a good thing when they were given drugs or injured during the night, as it usually healed the injuries and made drug effects go away the next night, leaving the gargoyle feeling a bit tired. But it was also the disadvantage that when they turned to stone, once turned, until sunset, they couldn't get away from enemies, and it had led to a lot of gargoyles being slain in their stone sleep over the centuries, practically wiping most of them out.

There were very few surviving clans anymore. They were all small ones.

…

The gargoyles had so many enemies. The Manhattan clan had been known about on TV and the humans had wanted to destroy them for so long, up until they all saved a runaway train from a crazed maniac. The leader, Jon Castaway and his Quarrymen.

Now, the clan was being recognized as heroes than as evil beings. They were to have more rights than they ever had before. But they would always have enemies to deal with. They would stop at nothing to protect their city of New York. And sometimes even outside the city too, when it called for it.

And there were plenty of humans too that admired the gargoyles as such unique creatures. They wanted to be their friends.

Here was a human who was one of those who did want to be an ally to the gargoyles. He had been fascinated with them for a long time. He was a man of science and genetics, but more in the good sense. He was also an animal breeder and veterinarian. He had studied many animals.

But the gargoyles were not like normal animals. They were more like humans. Just kind of like a more reptilian human.

This man's name was Winston McGuffin. He stood about 5'9. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. When he wasn't working as a scientist or vet, he wore typical street clothes.

Winston had heard about the train incident and he saw the clan's picture in the paper. They were all pretty amazing up close. But there was one gargoyle that got his attention the most, that seemed to stand out. The red gargoyle had his attention. All the others had cooler colors on them that he saw. Even their pet. He looked at the name listed for the red one: Brooklyn.

Brooklyn, huh? Named for the section of New York of Brooklyn obviously.

Winston wanted to find out more about the red gargoyle. Even the clan if he could.


	2. Chapter 2

Over a year later, Winston had studied the gargoyles all from a distance and saw just how magnificent they really were. He had never encountered them up close in person before. But he managed to get in contact with Xanatos on the phone.

Now that he was an ally of the clan, David was very wary of who he let see the gargoyles in his home.

"Mr. Xanatos, my name is Winston McGuffin. I would like to meet the red gargoyle. Brooklyn, is it?" Winston asked.

"Mr. McGuffin, I can talk to Brooklyn and see if he's up for it. If you give me a number to reach you at, I'll give you a call back." David said. "The gargoyles just have to be careful about who they meet."

"I understand. I'm not one of those people who wants to harm them. If anything, I want to be their friend. After seeing their picture in the paper, Brooklyn just caught my attention was all." Winston explained. "I saw his name in the caption below the photo, along with the rest of them. They were very heroic to save the train despite all the people hating them for so long."

"Yes, they persevered. It was hard, but I'm glad that ones who seek to cause them trouble will be brought to justice now if they are caught. But like I said, I'll talk to Brooklyn tonight. I'm sure he won't mind meeting you."

"Thank you, sir." Winston went on to give him his cell number. He hoped he could meet the red one soon. He had a plan for him, but it would wait until further notice.

…

David went up to the balconies that the gargoyles slept on during the day and woke on at night. He was going to talk to Brooklyn after he first woke up. The sun was almost down.

Moments later, it was down and all the gargoyles roared and stretched after their long day's stone sleep. The stone skins went flying everywhere. David kept his distance.

"Good evening, everyone." He greeted them. They all turned around.

"Xanatos, what has you up here tonight to greet us as we awaken? Is something wrong?" Goliath asked.

"I need to talk to Brooklyn about something."

"Me? About what?" the red gargoyle asked. It wasn't often that he was summoned for talking about important stuff. It was usually Goliath who was summoned for private talks.

"I'd like to talk in private."

Brooklyn followed the man downstairs to a hallway. His clan waited up above. They wanted to know what it was about. Then they would move on to their nightly activities.

"So, what's up?" Brooklyn asked curiously.

"I got a call today from someone called Winston McGuffin. Do you know who he is?" David asked him.

"No. Why?"

"He saw you in the newspaper after the train rescue and he wants to meet you. He says he's a gargoyle fan. I have a number to reach him, but I only will call him back with your answer if you want to meet him." David explained.

"Sure. If he's a friend, I'd be happy to meet him." Brooklyn smiled. He did like to make new friends. "But, do you know anything else about him?"

"No, not really."

"Alright. Call him back saying I'll meet him." Brooklyn then told him where he could meet him.

"Perhaps it's best if one of the others goes with you." the man advised.

"Of course. They would want to know I'm just being safe. I do too."

After the talk, David went to go make the call while Brooklyn went up to talk to the clan and tell them what they had talked about.

"That's good that someone is wanting to make friends with us." Angela declared with a smile. "He might be one of those friends from the P.I.T. group too."

"Let's hope so, Angela." Goliath said. "You are not going alone, Brooklyn."

"I know, Goliath. It's just for safety precautions. I'm not stupid."

Brooklyn hated it when his leader kept on treating him like a hatchling. He knew the rules. He knew how to be careful. He could take care of himself too.

The others went on to do their activities while Brooklyn waited for the results.

Winston was pleased to hear the gargoyle of his choice wanted to meet with him. And to meet one of his other clan mates too. He would be happy to meet on that rooftop.

David told Brooklyn the man was agreeable and they would soon be able to meet.

….

Brooklyn and Goliath glided over the city to the meeting spot.

"You can talk to him, but I'll be watching." Goliath stated firmly.

"I know. I'll be watching him too. We both want to make sure he says who he is."

They both soon landed on their appointed spot and shortly after, a tall man appeared and met them.

"Hello there. I'm Winston McGuffin and have been waiting to meet you for awhile. And you are?" he greeted in a warm, friendly manner.

"I'm Brooklyn, and this is my leader, Goliath." Brooklyn greeted warmly in return. So far, this man seemed friendly enough. But it would take some more observation.

"Pleased to meet both of you. I am one of the fans of you gargoyles. I'm glad they recently let you guys have more protected status. And that you'll be working with the police soon, more often."

"We recently heard that from our friend, Elisa." Goliath said. "But we will continue to protect this city from evil doers."

"That's great. But I was wanting to have an interview with Brooklyn too. Alone, if that's possible, Goliath?" Winston stated.

"Of course. But I won't be far off."

"Goliath, I'm not a hatchling. Please, trust me. I'll be watching him."

Goliath could see the pleading look in his second in command's eyes. "Alright. I just wanted to meet who you were meeting. I know you're not a hatchling, Brooklyn. Have a good time." He backed off and took off the building.

Brooklyn sighed to himself. He was glad he could talk to this guy in private now. "So, what do you want to interview me about?"

"Just gargoyle stuff. Like what do you know about yourself and other gargoyles. Goliath just seemed too intimidating to me to talk to him." Winston stated.

"Yeah, a lot of people seem intimidated by him. But they are of us too." Brooklyn said.

"I can see why. But we'll get off that subject and on to the better stuff. I live over a few buildings. If you want to come to my apartment, you can. Or we can stay up here."

"For now, right here's fine."

They both sat down and talked about what the man wanted to know. Brooklyn answered his questions the best he could. Winston took notes even. Brooklyn even talked about himself.

Throughout the interview, when the red gargoyle mentioned he was wanting a female of his own, Winston could hear the sadness in his voice. He was lonely.

Winston began to formulate a plan more so for the red gargoyle. He had also seen Broadway's interview a long time ago and had taped it. He just wanted to hear more about things from the red gargoyle. He was his new focus for now.

Eventually, Brooklyn did begin to feel more comfortable with Winston and he soon did want to see his apartment.

Goliath had watched from a distance and didn't see anything threatening about the man. He seemed friendly enough. He knew Brooklyn could handle things for himself, but would be there if needed. He let him spend time with him alone after awhile. He went back to the castle after a certain point when he didn't see anything bad going on. He would leave it up to Brooklyn for now when he was ready to come home that night, but if he wasn't back by shortly after sunset tomorrow, something might be wrong.

Winston was glad to show Brooklyn his home. He lived on the third floor of the apartment complex. He had a two bedroom apartment. It was really big. Brooklyn was happy to look around.

"I help out the animals at the zoo and at veterinary clinics as needed. I'm a doctor so to speak." Winston declared his occupation.

"So, if one of us got hurt, you would be able to help us?" Brooklyn asked.

"I would hope so. You mind if I examine your wing structure, how it's attached to your back?"

"No. Go ahead." Brook gave the okay.

Winston was all too happy to examine Brooklyn. His skin was real warm. His hair a little course, but just tangled too.

He ended up giving a complete physical. He had wanted to do it for some time. But he had permission to do so.

The gargoyles didn't exactly have a personal doctor, but Xanatos would always be able to find someone who could treat them should injuries arise. Stone sleep could only do so much.

When sunrise got close, Brooklyn chose to go. Winston understood.

"Can I come whenever I want to get away from my clan?" Brooklyn asked.

"You are welcome here anytime. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me."

"No problem. I wish we could meet more humans like you." Brook said.

"Hopefully, given time, more folks will come around once they know there's nothing to worry about really. Unless they're a bad guy." Winston said.

Brooklyn smiled and left after that.

Winston had a plan to try to give the red gargoyle something special. He had been told that there weren't many of their kind and with such a shortage of females in the clan, he was going to grant something that wouldn't be able to happen normally. And with such a small number of them, and no new life on the way anytime soon, he was going to do something about that, in a different way. Brooklyn had told him of how the only available female was with his bigger brother. He wanted to grant the red one something that was his and his alone.

He got on the phone with one of his associates from the zoo and talked to him the next morning that they were going to do something very special. But there would be one problem, getting it all accomplished. It would take some time.

**I hope you readers enjoy this story. It will be something different from typical Brooklyn stories. This is also my first Brooklyn story that is being posted, that's not a crossover or anything. Leaving reviews also makes my day. **


	3. Chapter 3

Winston's associates began work on the special project. A specially designed formula. But Winston himself didn't want to be known that he was associated with it. He was just doing this to give something back.

Brooklyn continued to talk to him at his place at night when he wasn't doing patrols or other missions.

Winston had to ask, "How do you feel about kids? I mean, would you want to have some of your own someday?"

"Sure. But given that I don't have a girl right now, it just seems impossible. I just hope I find one before the next breeding year. We all need to try to bring back numbers to our clan. And we won't be able to bring back the numbers fast enough." Brooklyn explained.

"Can you explain that?" Winston asked, and Brooklyn explained the facts of gargoyle breeding cycles. He knew the man was just curious as being a vet and all. He had posed no threat to him, so he told him.

…..

With such a shortage of females was being a problem for this project for the ones creating this special gift. Winston was supervising it, and he knew they would have to improvise. Come up with a different way of doing it.

The formula was nearing completion though. Now it just needed a host. This was just one part of the project that seemed to be going right.

Winston needed Brooklyn for the next part. He had an idea of how to get what he needed. He hated thoughts of any what seemed like betrayal of trust, but he just wanted to give Brooklyn this special gift he had in mind. He deserved something more than just what he had currently. He needed something more in his life. Winston saw he loved his clan mates, but he saw how sad his red friend was.

…

Brooklyn visited Winston at his apartment one night. They had been friends now for three weeks. He had done his patrol for the night and the others were doing nothing to help with his boredom.

Winston was willing to offer Brooklyn a meal while they watched a movie together.

"Brooklyn, do you want some food? I have this dynamite movie that has some motorcyclists in it. I figured it would interest you since you said you like them." Winston offered. "We can watch it while we eat."

"Sure. Thanks. What is it?" Brooklyn smiled.

"Some cheeseburgers and mashed potatoes."

"Sure, thanks."

Winston got to work on making their dinner. Brooklyn just watched some TV while waiting, then they would watch the movie.

When the food was done, Winston separated his food from Brooklyn's. He got the potatoes he wanted, then added a packet of powder into the rest of the potatoes. Brooklyn came out and grabbed what he wanted too, and put on his burgers ketchup and mustard. He didn't mind onions and pickles on them either.

They both went into the living room and Winston put in the movie finally. From there, they both just enjoyed eating their meal. Brooklyn had taken the rest of the potatoes. Winston eyed him warily, but he went on eating his own food.

Brooklyn ate his two cheeseburgers just fine. It was when he ate the potatoes that Winston was really watching him. He managed to eat all the potatoes.

"Thanks for dinner, Winston." Brooklyn said gratefully.

"You're welcome." the man replied.

Not long after, Brooklyn felt dizzy and his vision began to get blurry. He held his head and moaned. He closed his eyes.

"Something wrong?" Winston asked.

"I just have a headache all of a sudden." Brooklyn replied tiredly.

"I have some medicine."

"I'd like some."

"Just sit tight." Winston said and got up. He knew the drug was affecting his friend. He went to the kitchen to so call get the medicine. Then he saw the gargoyle black out on the couch. At least he had been sitting down before he fell down.

Winston knew was the time to get what he needed. He went over and checked Brooklyn's vitals. He was breathing normally. He quickly went and got out his supplies. The drug would keep Brooklyn out for a few hours, so he needed to work quickly.

He searched for a vein in his right arm and found it, then he took some blood. He had a syringe with the formula ready and he had to inject it where he needed it to be.

The man took off Brooklyn's loincloth. He had to get other and the most vital part of the DNA to get to the final stage. He also had a portable ultrasound machine. He went and got it and turned it on to locate the spot. It was down in the lower abdomen, then picking up the syringe, he injected the needle into the skin on Brooklyn's lower belly.

The special formula would finish on its own, within 24 hours, probably by the next night. But it needed a part of Brooklyn's DNA to finish its job too.

Once the formula was injected, Winston went about collecting the seed that he needed from Brooklyn. He knew it was a personal matter, but needed to be done. He did it carefully and gently.

The rest was all done under a microscope that Winston had. It took a little bit. Brooklyn's seed was forced into the nucleus of an anonymous egg cell. He looked at the size of the gargoyle's waist. Only one would be preferable. But there had been a couple of eggs available to work with, but Winston had decided. Then he got it into another syringe.

From what he had also looked at with the sperm cells, from the mammal part of the gargoyle's DNA, being a male, Brooklyn's side of parentage would decide the gender of the future offspring, like any other mammal. If he had been more on the reptile side, the gender decision might have been more tricky.

When the fully fertilized egg was ready, he went back to Brooklyn and turned on the machine again, and put the wand back on the gelled area of his belly. Winston located where he had injected the formula and he injected the second syringe with the egg in it into the original formula. There was also a tube injected with it, a dab of hormones. Now only time would tell if it would take. This was a tricky new project. Nothing at all may happen, but Winston, being a scientist and doctor was willing to try something new.

He quickly put his stuff away, cleaned the gel off Brooklyn's belly, and put the loincloth back on him so he wouldn't suspect a thing.

But Winston had another plan in mind from his colleagues. They would wait for a few days though.

…..

Brooklyn soon woke up again. He was still a bit dizzy. "Oh, what happened?" he moaned. He put a hand to his head.

"While we were watching the movie, you suddenly got dizzy and blacked out. Does that happen often?" Winston was sitting beside him. He acted as if nothing was wrong. "I made sure your vitals were okay."

"How close is it to sunrise?"

Winston looked at the time. "It's 3:45. You still have at least another hour and a half."

Brooklyn let out a breath. "I should go."

"Hold on. You should let the dizzy spell pass first. At least wait another half hour. You just woke up. You need to be able to glide straight." Winston stated his concern. He didn't want him going down if he couldn't concentrate on gliding.

"Thanks. Sure."

Winston had stopped the movie when he had to do what he had to do. He put the movie back on.

When Brooklyn moved about to just shift his position on the couch, beneath his belt, he felt his lower belly felt a little tender from the unknown injections. He put a hand over his belt.

Winston glanced out the side of his eye. _'He must be feeling where the injections were. They'll be healed by tomorrow.'_ Winston thought to himself.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"My belly feels a little sore under my belt." Brooklyn replied. He didn't really feel anything else. What involved collecting his seed had gone back to normal. He shouldn't even know a thing happened until later.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Winston said. "Sometimes our bodies give us minor irritations."

"True."

The movie finished before it was time for Brooklyn to go home. He felt more awake and less dizzy for the moment. Winston let him go. He just hoped everything would be alright, and only time would tell now if something would happen in time.

….

Brooklyn got home in time before he met the others coming up to the parapets to get ready to greet the dawn for their daily sleep. At least Goliath wasn't being pesky about where he had been.

"So, how's the new friendship coming with your new friend?" Lexington asked him.

"It's cool, Lex. We watched a movie on motorcycles tonight and we had some cheeseburgers and mashed potatoes. Winston said I blacked out, but I don't know." Brooklyn explained.

"You never do that unless you're forced to, like being drugged." Lex said.

"I know."

"He better not be doing anything to harm you." Broadway growled.

"He's not. He looked out for me." Brooklyn replied. "I'm fine now."

"Some stone sleep will help." Angela said in concern.

Brooklyn nodded. He was still slightly dizzy from the drug. He had no idea.

Soon, the sun rose and they all changed for the day.

….

Winston was glad he had gotten done what needed to be done for this project. He only hoped something did result from it.

By the next night, Brooklyn was fine.

….

A few days later, the clan was doing patrols and there was a woman in trouble in an alley. She was dealing with five different muggers trying to steal her purse and trying to tease her.

Brooklyn was with Lexington this time. They both flew down and flared their eyes at the muggers. They screamed and ran off in fear. Lex got the purse back from the one who stole it from her.

Lex threw the man over by some trash cans and he got up and ran away like the others. Then he calmly walked over to the woman. "Here's your purse back, Ma'am." he said.

"Uh, thanks. But uh, just keep away." She walked around them warily after taking her purse back. She walked rather fast out of the alley.

"I really wish humans were more understanding of us." Lex said.

"Me too. But I'd say our patrol is sufficient for tonight, Lex. Let's head back." Brooklyn said.

All of a sudden, Lex felt a prick in his left arm. "Aw!" He pulled out a dart.

"Lex, are you alright?" Brook asked in concern.

"I don't think so." the green gargoyle replied. He was getting groggy.

Brooklyn went over to pick him up and get him home, but he too, got darted. He also went under, but he saw some human shapes in his vision before he blacked out.

Winston's colleagues were setting this up. But they did nothing to the two sleeping gargoyles. If something did happen with Brooklyn in the near future, this was the best explanation for it. They had helped with it too, to make it happen, at least with the formula.

They made sure they were moved up to the roof otherwise. These were a few more gargoyle-tolerant citizens and had been glad to help with what Winston was wanting. Now they had met the red one, along with his green companion. They left them there. There was still plenty of night left.

After a half hour, they woke up from their little naps, and they were on a rooftop instead of the alley. They both were dizzy, but they regained their senses fast.

"Where'd those punks go?" Brooklyn demanded. He didn't see anyone.

"I don't know. I didn't see anyone before I blacked out." Lex said.

"I did, before I went under too."

"At least we're not in a cage somewhere." Lex declared.

"Yeah. Let's just get back home." Brooklyn said. They both were still not completely fine yet, but well enough to get their bearings going to glide.

The humans were well hidden as they watched the two of them take off into the night.

Brooklyn ended up telling Goliath what happened when they got home.

"At least you're both safe." Goliath stated. "You look alright."

"Yeah, we're fine. It just felt like a setup." Brooklyn said.

"At least you kept the woman from being mugged. Even if she was wary of you."

Goliath wasn't disappointed in them. They had done what they were sent out to do for the people, but he truly hoped his second in command and his smart brother were alright in the long run. Stone sleep would fully heal the drug out of their system.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few weeks, Brooklyn still went to Winston's apartment a couple times a week. He wasn't seeing much right now. It was still too early to know for sure.

Brooklyn still was going on patrols, watching TV, and eating meals with his clan. He often watched in sadness or jealousy of how Lex would spend time with Alex, and how Broadway and Angela sat together on the couch in the library so lovingly. And with Goliath and Elisa. It seemed everyone had someone to hang with but him.

Goliath had Elisa, and he was often helping her out on her nightly patrols. Hudson had Bronx. Brooklyn just felt so out of place in the clan. Just being a second in command didn't seem like enough. He wanted what Broadway and Angela had, and Goliath and Elisa, regardless of being different races.

He was glad to have Winston as his friend, but he still longed for that much needed extra bond.  
…..

Four weeks after Winston's unknown meddling with the red gargoyle, when he woke up, Brooklyn roared and stretched. They all went to go get ready for their breakfast.

While Broadway cooked and the food smells that wafted from the kitchen, Brooklyn could smell it, and he suddenly got nauseated. It came on so suddenly. His stomach churned and he clutched at his beak and made a mad dash for a bathroom. He knew one was nearby.

The others all saw him take off clutching his mouth.

"What was that all about?" Angela asked.

"I don't know. We'd better go find out." Goliath said.

The others went to go find him. He normally never did that.

They found him in the nearest bathroom, throwing up.

"Brooklyn, what's wrong, lad?" Hudson asked in concern.

Brooklyn finished tossing his food, panting hard. "I… don't know. It… came on so… suddenly…" He smelled something else and puked some more.

"It could just be a bug, but you seemed fine when you woke up." Lex said.

That time was his last. He panted some more. "I don't know… what caused it." Brooklyn said.

"It'll be alright, Brooklyn. Just take this night off and just relax." Goliath said.

Brooklyn knew he would. Afterwards, he went to his room. Xanatos had given them all their own rooms. He laid down on his bed. Owen later brought him some anti-nausea medicine and he ended up throwing those up too.

The red gargoyle knew he didn't feel good right now. Nausea swarmed in his stomach at the moment, making him keep a hand on it. He definitely wasn't going out tonight. He went back to his room and laid down again.

Fox soon brought him a spare bucket to lay by his bed just in case of it happening again.

"Thanks, Fox." Brooklyn replied.

"No problem. The clan just wants to see you well again." Fox replied before leaving.

"I know." He declared. He didn't get sick often. Hopefully whatever this was, was just a 24 hour thing, he hoped.  
…

But that proved wrong. It began to happen every night at some point. Sometimes he would wake up nauseated, other times ravenous. When he was hungry, he would eat with his clan, but within a short time after eating, Brooklyn would end up finding himself running to a bathroom or to a trashcan.

The clan was growing concerned. This wasn't like him at all.

Goliath ordered for Brooklyn to be off of patrols until further notice, until what was wrong with him was found out.

Brooklyn had lost focus while gliding a few times and almost fell, and had even also just about been nailed by bad guys in a fight over these past couple weeks. He was always with another clan member and they always reported something happening to him.

During this time, Brooklyn couldn't go see Winston either. He told Xanatos, "Please call Winston. He's a doctor." Brooklyn groaned, holding his stomach. It was bothering him yet again.

"Of course, Brooklyn."

David called Brooklyn's friend as requested. Everyone wanted to get to the bottom of the beaked gargoyle's ailment. Could he have been poisoned? Most ailments were out of a gargoyle's system within twenty-four hours. But not this, whatever it was.

Winston picked up on his line. "Hello, Winston McGuffin here."

"Mr. McGuffin, this is David Xanatos. I'm calling about your friend, Brooklyn. He says you're a doctor?"

"Yes, he's right, but I'm an animal doctor. I have given Brooklyn a physical once. But I know he hasn't seen me for the last couple weeks. I figured he was busy with his clan." Winston stated.

"No. It's because he's been sick. We need you to come here to my headquarters to see him right away." David declared.

"Alright. I'll get there as soon as I can." Winston replied.

When they hung up, Winston figured that maybe his little project 'gift' was working after all. He had been hoping it would. Even it if meant the sickness part of it, as a lot of pregnancies had it in the first trimester. He couldn't refuse.

He got his supplies and went over there directly.

Brooklyn just laid in his bed while waiting for Winston to come to him. Why wasn't this ailment going away? He only stared up at the ceiling, thinking.

Before long, he heard a knock on his door. He raised his head as Fox opened it and notified him. "Your friend is here." she said.

"Thanks."

The exam would be in the hospital ward. Brooklyn got off his bed slowly, and made his way to the ward. David was in the room to make sure nothing would go wrong. He figured Brooklyn would want his privacy from the clan.

Winston greeted him as he came in. "Hi, old friend." he smiled.

"Hi." Brooklyn gave a small smile in return. "I wish I was seeing you under better circumstances."

"I was just told you were sick. What are your symptoms?" Winston asked.

"It's been stomach problems mostly. But I also get dizzy. I don't want to eat very often. I throw up everything I eat when I do eat. I've been taken off of patrols because of my illness. They usually go away within a day. But this one has persisted for so long. I… we all need to know what's going on." Brooklyn explained.

"I understand. How long has it been going on?"

"A few weeks now." Brooklyn replied.

"Yeah, that is concerning." Winston said. He set his bag down and opened it up. "If you'll get on the bed, I'm going to take some blood first."

Winston had noticed a microscope on the far side of the room. He would look at the sample under there.

Brooklyn cooperated and let Winston take his blood from one of his arms. "Your blood is just a tad darker than your skin, I see." The man noticed.

"Yeah."

David didn't see any funny business from the guy.

Outside in the waiting area, the whole clan was out there. They were anxious to know what was going on just as much, if not more. They hoped Brooklyn wasn't dying. He was so young and should have had a long life in front of him. That's what they would want for him.

Winston let Brooklyn relax on the bed. He was lying down now, as he had now fell victim to a dizzy spell. He was examining the blood sample at the moment.

He saw some unique properties in the blood. But he saw the female hormones were definitely up. And the pregnancy hormone detected. He smiled happily. It was a success!

It had taken about a half hour to be sure of everything. Winston already knew what was wrong with his friend. But it had been a long time for the gargoyles to have dealt with a pregnancy of any kind. Hopefully, they would all relish this news.

When Winston came back over to the bed, Brooklyn was sitting up, looking at him with hopeful eyes. "Did you see any problems?" he asked.

"You're not going to be alone anymore, Brooklyn." Winston declared with a smile.

"What?" he asked in shock. "I'm not alone."

"I mean as in you're going to be sharing your life with someone special." Winston meant.

"I still don't get it. I'm not with a female."

"Brooklyn, I detected some hormones in your blood that shouldn't have been there, but it's what I've seen with plenty of female animals before, when they're about to bring new life into the world." Winston explained.

Brooklyn's eyes widened. "What? You don't mean-?"

"Yes, Brooklyn, I do. I know you're a male, but, you are pregnant." Winston stated.

Even David was shocked at that. He had remembered his wife, Fox going through some of the same things that Brooklyn had been going through when she had been expecting Alex.

"You're sure about this?" David asked, making sure.

"The DNA doesn't lie, Mr. Xanatos." Winston said.

Brooklyn's breathing began to pick up. Now he was scared. How would this had happened? Unless… no!

Tears came to his eyes. It can't be! "No, it can't be!" Brooklyn let loose a sob. He usually wasn't prone to crying, but the hormones were changing some things in his mind.

"Why didn't I notice it before?" David stated. "Fox had many of the same symptoms when she was pregnant with our son. I should have guessed, but just know that this doesn't happen to us guys."

"I know it is beyond shocking, Mr. Xanatos, but he is pregnant." Winston went on.

"It means, that I was… raped!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "Lex and I were… knocked out one night… saving a woman in an alley. We remember nothing else."

"But Lexington has been fine, Brooklyn." David said.

"But why… why would someone do this to me?" Brooklyn asked with tears flowing down his face.

"Good question. But Brooklyn, for full proof and for your health, would you mind if I did an ultrasound?" Winston asked.

"Ultrasound?" the gargoyle asked in shock.

"It's where the doctor scans a section on the body to see what's inside if something's wrong, and in the case of a pregnant mother, her stomach to see the baby, or babies inside her." David explained to him.

Brooklyn froze at that. The thought of multiple babies was super scary. Even the thought of just one was scary for someone who wasn't expecting this to happen to him.

"Brooklyn, I think it would be vital to have all the proof we need." David said.

Winston went to bring the machine over. He began to start it up once it was over there.

Brooklyn looked at him in concern and then at Winston. "Do what you got to do." he said.

"Okay, if you'll just lay back for me. And can you undo your belt? Pull down your loincloth just a little bit. I need access to the very lowest section of your abdomen." Winston instructed.

Brooklyn had stopped crying for the moment and did as instructed. He undid his belt before laying back, and he pushed his loincloth down a bit.

"You don't have to push it down any further. Nothing private has to be revealed." Winston said. "That's good enough."

Brooklyn watched as his friend got a tube out and he saw him open it and he approached his belly with it. He squirted some of it onto his belly. Man, it was cold!

The gargoyle cringed at the coldness. "Ai! That's so freaking cold!" he exclaimed.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But it has to be on your skin to help me move the wand easier." Winston explained. Then he got the wand pulled up and he gelled it as well, then he applied it down on Brooklyn's stomach.

The wand was pressed into the skin and was a little uncomfortable for Brooklyn. But then, this was the first time he was ever having something like this done to him. He couldn't help but look down at it in worry.

Winston began to press some buttons and a picture appeared on the screen. David looked too. Winston scanned carefully.

He was on the lowest section, right in the middle of Brooklyn's lower belly. He saw the artificial womb in there that had been successfully created by the special formula his colleagues had created. He saw past that to see an embryo inside it!

Winston smiled.

Brooklyn was still in major shock about all this. He saw the smile creep onto his friend's face at what he was looking at. He turned his head to the right to look too. And what he saw really shocked him. He could see a little body inside him! There was something blipping away too.

"What- what is that blinking?" Brooklyn asked.

"That's the baby's heartbeat, Brooklyn." Winston replied. He hit a button and a gushing sound was heard from the computer. It was so foreign to Brooklyn's ears. He had had no idea.

"This can't be happening! I don't know if I can do this!" Brooklyn was so suddenly scared that he tried sitting up to stop it.

"Brooklyn, you need to lie down. I'm not done yet." Winston declared. He had his hand on his chest. He pushed him back down. Brooklyn's legs were bent at the knees.

David came over to help Winston keep the gargoyle calm. "I know this a shock, Brooklyn, but he needs to finish the exam." he said. He had his hand on his left arm.

"I can't do this! I want up." He was ready to bolt out of the room.

"In just a few minutes." Winston said. "I'm almost done."

Brooklyn didn't have a choice. He looked back at the screen in fear. This couldn't be happening. He stared up at the screen again. He felt Winston moving the wand around some more. His friend examined every part of the body that was forming. It wasn't really much to look at the moment, but there was evidence of a heart and body forming.

"It's not totally much to look at now. Only time will tell what it looks like in the future." Winston stated.

After a few more minutes, Winston finished up and turned the machine off.

"That's pretty amazing, Brooklyn." David said.

"I also saw that the baby is growing inside an organ that normally wouldn't be found in a male. It is in a uterus, but I'm afraid there's no exit." Winston explained.

Brooklyn knew about where babies came from, but he had never imagined he would be the one carrying his first child. He was finally allowed to sit up. He was given a towel to clean the gel off his belly.

"Is there any way out of this? I wouldn't be able to have it like a female can." Brooklyn asked.

"Yes. There's abortion, and cesarean section at full term." Winston stated.

"How far along am I?" Brooklyn asked.

"If it's been going on for two weeks, I'd estimate about six weeks. The heart would have only started beating about a week ago."

"I still don't know if I can do this. This isn't right." Brooklyn said. After getting his stomach cleaned off, he dropped the towel and held his belly. "What are the others going to think?"

"I'm sure they'll all be in shock too at first, but why wouldn't they support bringing a new baby gargoyle into the clan?" David proclaimed. "As one father to another, I give you my blessing, Brooklyn."

Brooklyn glanced at the rich man. Father? He hadn't had enough time to fully think about it yet. He was going to be a father! But, it wouldn't have a mother. He was both parents in one right now. But why would someone do this to him? It would have been more correct for it to have been done on Angela, with her being a female. He would have supported her in carrying a child for him if he knew it was his, but then, when the time came, she would be carrying Broadway's instead.

"I know this was a shock finding out about this, Brooklyn, but the way I look at it, from a scientist's point of view, it is one amazing discovery and from the doctor perspective, that this can be carried out on a male too, not just the females. And look at your numbers. Gargoyle kind need the numbers. This is just a first step to bringing some back faster. This will make history for you." Winston explained his thoughts.

David could understand what he was talking about, but at the thought of being raped, was not right. Having this forced on Brooklyn wasn't right. But he could agree about the numbers.

Brooklyn was still absorbing all this. His hand never left his stomach. "I need time to think about this." He began buckling his belt over his loincloth again.

"Take all the time you need. Think hard. But I am going to say congratulations on the baby." Winston smiled at him.

"Same here, Brooklyn." David added.

"Thanks, but how am I going to tell the clan?" Brooklyn asked. "I'm not ready to tell them. And how long do you think I'll carry it? Was it in an egg? It'll take ten years to hatch."

"I can tell them for you if you need me too. Just finding out about this tonight is a lot to take in. But if you want them to understand that you will have limitations from now on for the next few months if you decide to go on with the pregnancy. I would guess maybe more than the six months that you mentioned from the natural way. Maybe even as long as a human's. I didn't see signs of an eggshell. You won't be going on patrols and you have to protect yourself at all costs." Winston explained his concern. "If you want to hang out with me, I could come to you."

"They are all waiting anxiously to know what's going on with you. What do you want to do?" David asked.

"I don't think I can find the words to say it." Brooklyn said. "I need to think more first."

"I or Mr. Xanatos can do it if you want us to." Winston stated.

"Please, not tonight. Give me some time to think about it." Brooklyn said.

"Alright. But we have to tell them something." David said.

"Tell them he's going to be alright. That he'll tell them in a few nights what it is, but until then, you are going to have to take it easy from here on out." Winston advised.

Brooklyn finally left the hospital ward to go back to his room. David went to go face the clan.

The second the door opened, the clan was on their feet. They had been worried sick.

"Is he-?" Angela asked in fear.

"What happened?" Goliath asked.

"The good news is Brooklyn's going to be just fine." David announced.

The clan cheered happily.

"But what's the bad news?" Goliath demanded next.

"The bad news is that he has a condition that he wants more time to think about before he tells what it is. The sickness will continue for some time. But it's nothing that will kill him. He needs to take it easy for awhile. He's not going to be in any shape for big fights or big exertions for some time." David explained to them.

"But what is the condition?" Lex tried to get it out of him.

"I'm sorry. For now, I'm sworn to secrecy." David said. "Just keep calm when around him and make him feel supported. That's what he needs right now from you all. He's feeling all alone at the moment."

"We'll support and take care of Brooklyn in whatever he needs to get better." Goliath declared. "We need him out there with us."

The others agreed too.

David was pleased to hear it.

After he left, the clan went into the ward, only to find Brooklyn not in there. There would be only one other place he could be. They went to his room to see how he was doing.

Lexington knocked on his door first. "Come in." They heard.

Goliath opened the door. "Hi, Brooklyn. How are you feeling?" he asked in concern.

Brooklyn was on his bed. He took his hand off his belly. "Peachy." he said sarcastically.

The clan stepped into the room. They saw he was fine, but he didn't look happy.

"Are you alright?" Angela asked.

"Yes. I'm just in shock of learning the condition of my health." Brooklyn replied.

"Brooklyn, we care about you, you know that?" Goliath said.

"Yes."

"We will support you in anything that will help you out while you are sick." the leader stated.

"I know that. I just… need more time to tell you what's going on." Brooklyn explained.

"You do that, lad. But don't take too long. We need to know what is wrong to help you get back on your feet." Hudson said.

"We also want you around for a long time." Broadway stated. "You're still our rookery brother."

"Thanks." Brooklyn replied. He was glad the clan seemed to be supporting him even though they didn't know about the baby yet. He was glad it was just one. "Look, I feel I need to lay down. I'm getting dizzy."

"Very well. Just let us know if you need anything." Goliath said.

"I will, thanks." Brook said.

The clan left the room. Hudson was the last one, but Bronx came up to the red one and whined. He smelled Brooklyn's scent and he took note of it. It wasn't quite the same. He licked Brooklyn's hand.

"Hey, boy. I'm fine." he said.

Bronx knew something special was going on. He knew what a pregnant gargoyle's scent was like from years ago. It was stored in his memory like what happens with dogs.

"Bronx, let the lad rest." Hudson called the gar-dog.

"Go on. We might be able to play later." Brooklyn said.

Bronx reluctantly followed Hudson out. He wanted to stay with Brooklyn right now.

Brooklyn sighed after they were gone. He knew he wouldn't be able to be knocked around or anything while he was carrying this baby.

As the night wore on, some more of his thinking became more clear to him. He sat on the edge of his bed, looking down and rubbing his belly. "I never thought this would ever be the way I become a father to my first baby." he said to himself, or was thinking it to his child too. "But is it really the right thing to do? I know I'm not going to be able to do as many things I used to be able to do. But what Winston said makes sense. We could use more numbers. But this will be my child. I know I would be responsible for it. It's all just so much to take in."

"What are you, little one? I have to also decide what you'll eat, what your name will be." So much to think about, but then, a horrifying thought came to him. What if this baby was not a gargoyle at all? What if it was something else?

Or some whacked out scientist who planned on using the baby against him?! Like Sevarius, or Demona! If that she-demon found out he was carrying a baby, she would never let him live it down. Or she would take it away from him! The very thoughts made him hold his belly.

Brooklyn looked down at his belly, "As much as you are making me miserable, little one, I promise to take care of you from here on out."

After he said that, he heard a knock at his door. "Come in." It was Fox.

"Brooklyn, I have something for you." she said.

"What?" he asked.

"David only told me. He didn't tell the others of your condition. Since I've gone through that once before, I thought you might want to read this to help prepare and make your final decision better." She explained as she handed him a book.

He read the title. 'What to Expect when You're Expecting.' He also saw the pregnant woman on the front too.

"Thanks, Fox." he said.

"It'll tell you a lot of things you need to know." Fox stated. "It really came in handy when I carried Alex. Do you have any thoughts on what your baby will be? Girl or boy? It's just fun to guess in all the excitement."

"No, I don't. Not at the moment. I just found out and am coming to terms with it." Brooklyn said.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, or have questions about what you're going through, I can help you out there with someone who has the experience." she said.

"Thanks." He wasn't too disappointed that she knew. He was glad to have someone around that had direct experience with this. Even Elisa hadn't gone down this road yet. But he knew Elisa was bound to be understanding and supportive too, being a woman and their other closest friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Brooklyn laid down on his bed and began to directly read the book after Fox left his room. It was very interesting. Also during this time, he ended up puking once. He hated the so-called morning sickness phase of the pregnancy.

He knew he wasn't human, but he came pretty close. And he wasn't carrying an egg either. He knew humans carried nine months. He just hoped he wouldn't be pregnant for a super-long time.

A few nights later, after feeling he felt ready enough to tell the others, he waited for Elisa to come over for dinner. He was so nervous. He was sure how the others would react, but worried about Goliath's reaction the most.

The others were still extremely concerned for the red one. Goliath felt he needed his second in command on the next theft ring go around. Elisa was saying it was getting pretty bad. But he hoped Brooklyn would be feeling better soon. Winston had said after all, that he wasn't dying.

Brooklyn actually had an appetite tonight. He seemed to have to go a few nights without eating before he got hungry enough to really want to eat again.

"Evening, everyone." he greeted.

"Evening, Brooklyn. How are you feeling tonight?" Goliath asked.

"Yeah. We need you out on patrols again." Broadway added.

Brooklyn looked at Xanatos. The man nodded to go on. Fox and Alex sat beside him. Owen was serving them all. All the food sat on the table.

Goliath and the clan all sat at the large table. Elisa sat next to Goliath.

"It's nice to be with you all here, but I do have an announcement to make. This isn't easy for me to say because it's so unusual and doesn't usually happen. But, it's about why I've been so sick lately." Brooklyn began.

"Go on, lad. We need to know." Hudson encouraged.

"Guys, I need you there for me to get through this. This won't be easy for me going through it alone."

"What is it already?" Lex asked.

"Guys, as you know, we haven't had any new blood in the clan since Angela joined us. And our numbers are so low. It took the last few days to make my decision what I was going to do about it since Winston told me what it was." Brooklyn explained.

To the others, it seemed like he was stalling about telling what it really was.

"Everyone, it seems my condition is being caused by…" Brooklyn swallowed hard. He put a hand on his stomach. "A baby." He looked at the others to see how they were going to react.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"You're pregnant, Brooklyn?" Elisa asked.

"Yes. Why would I make it up?" Brooklyn replied.

"You're a guy. That's not possible." Lex said.

"Lex, you remember those men that got to us that night when we saved that woman? I know we save lots of them in distress, but this time, in that alley, we were darted and we woke up and we were moved to that rooftop. They did it to me somehow." Brooklyn gave his explanation.

"And what is your decision?" Goliath demanded. "For all we know, it might have been done to you to use against you or all of us."

"Goliath, please. Don't do this. I've decided to keep it. We could all use some new blood in the clan. And none of us have taken care of a young gargoyle in a long time. I know we have Alex to think of too, but he's not our kid. But think about it, he could also end up playing with my kid when he gets older." Brooklyn proclaimed.

"Brooklyn, I won't deny you happiness with a child of your own, but we just need to make sure that the baby won't cause you any harm." Goliath said in concern.

"We will have his pregnancy monitored constantly, Goliath." David said. "Winston seems to know what he's doing and talking about. Since he's your friend, he could be your doctor too."

"That'd be great, Xanatos." Brooklyn agreed. "He seems to want to help me."

"So, we get to be uncles?" Broadway asked.

"Yeah. I guess you do. If you want to be in my child's life." Brooklyn said.

"Of course. He'll be well fed with me looking after him. Way to go, Brooklyn!" Broadway patted him on the shoulder gently.

"Maybe it'll be a little girl. I'm so happy for you, Brooklyn." Angela said. "Have you started thinking of names?"

"Not yet. I will over time."

"Yeah, I would like to think that Alex will have a playmate somewhat closer to his age." Lexington agreed. "I'll also be happy to babysit him or her and teach them stuff." Alex was only a year old at the moment.

"I'm sure you will do that alright." Brooklyn smiled.

"You think it'll look like you?" Elisa asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it will. However it looks, I'll accept it because I'll love it for just being what they are." he said.

Goliath couldn't help but be concerned. He took a glance at Brooklyn's stomach. He didn't see any signs of a baby, or swelling. This better be real. But then, he had been sick for so long.

"I know how gargoyle babies usually are born, from the eggs, but from an ultrasound Winston gave me, this one will be born live. We'll have to prepare a lot sooner for it than if it was hatching from an egg." Brooklyn explained.

"It will be good to pass some more lessons on to a new generation." Hudson said. "I wish you all the luck, lad."

"Thanks, Hudson. Thanks for the support everyone." Brooklyn declared happily. Then he looked at his leader. "Goliath, with the way I'm still sick from the baby, I'm not going to be able to patrol for some time. I can't risk getting harmed in my condition."

"I understand, Brooklyn. I want you to be happy and have your child safely." Goliath agreed.

"Brooklyn, whether you're pregnant or not, you can still exercise. There are ways to exercise without harming the baby." Fox spoke up. "But rest when you feel sick or dizzy. You have to know what your limits are."

"I'm only about six weeks at the moment. When will I start getting big?" he asked Fox.

"It could be around your third month, or fourth. Given how skinny you are, it could be as soon as the end of the third month." She tried to estimate his timeline. But things could only proceed as they saw fit. They could only allow nature to take its course. Brooklyn wasn't going to allow anything to harm his baby. He just hoped that Goliath truly meant what he said this time. He knew the big guy could always change his mind at the last moment too.

If he felt his child was in danger, Brooklyn would leave for his child's safety. But where would be a safe place to go? There were still so many gargoyle haters in the city, and turning to stone during the day was a vulnerability away from the castle. He would intend to stay though. Even if he had to go away, he would still make sure to get his child the medical care needed.

Brooklyn wasn't used to the idea of having all the medical care so much, but he knew he would need it. This kind of thing didn't happen to male gargoyles. He knew he would be the first one in gargoyle history for this to happen to, as a male, and a live birth to happen. He knew it would also mean surgery at the end of the pregnancy, but it would be worth it. His stone sleep would heal his incision after surgery.

Stone sleep had its advantages and disadvantages. Healing injuries and feeling refreshed completely were some advantages. But not being able to keep on fighting in the middle of a fight as the sun rose was a disadvantage when an enemy could destroy them by smashing them.

Brooklyn hoped that him turning to stone wasn't harming his baby.  
…..

For awhile, Winston would come by every week to make sure the baby was okay and growing alright. He at least wanted to see Brooklyn past the first trimester before he stopped having weekly ultrasounds. After the exams were over, then it was time to hang out.

Now that the clan knew of Brooklyn's baby, he had to stay behind every night. They weren't going to risk him getting hurt or miscarrying. No telling what would happen with that.

Brooklyn was allowed to watch as much TV as he wanted, at least when Hudson wasn't there. But Hudson was joining them more on patrols now just because Brooklyn couldn't come anymore. He had Bronx for company most of the time, unless something would be serious enough that they had to bring him along for tracking or more team fighting.

Brooklyn couldn't help but wonder how well a father he was going to be to the little one. When it got older, how well would it take its lessons? He hoped for a fine, healthy young gargoyle. In a way, he was hoping for a daughter too. Angela could use some company. If it did turn out to be a girl, Angela could teach her things that the male ones couldn't. Female humans could only teach only so much. And she was a more better role model of a gargoyle than Demona would ever be.

Brooklyn was determined to keep his baby away from Demona. But not that she ever stopped by often enough. It had been awhile since they had last heard from her anyway, since she had tried to use Angela and lure them all into a trap to kill Goliath.

Other things that Brooklyn did to keep himself entertained was learning to do some yoga under Fox's instruction. He played cards with Lex. Even Broadway and Angela played too. Other times, he would also go to the library and read. Aside from the one book that Fox gave him, he would also go and read more about childcare.

Now that Brooklyn was on the way to becoming a father, he also needed childcare experience. Handling Alex would be a good place to start. A few times, he watched how Lex interacted with the little boy.

Lex babysat Alex a lot when Owen wouldn't take him to try to train his magical powers. It was usually when his parents went out for a night on the town.

A guy called Jackson was David and Fox's new limo driver. Owen didn't always have to do it so much anymore, but was still enough of a servant and friend to the family and clan, now so. Owen would even be willing to watch Brooklyn's baby, if ever called for.

At least Brooklyn was only having one. Two or more might have been overwhelming for him. But then, all of the new changes coming about would be overwhelming at times. At least he wasn't alone in his decisions and to have plenty of babysitters around.  
….

Several weeks later, at twelve weeks along, Brooklyn was now sporting a baby bump in his stomach. It was small, but noticeable to the clan. If there were any doubts before, there was definite proof now.

The morning sickness was finally going away and he was beginning to eat a bit more. He had lost some weight during the first couple of months because he hadn't been eating much. But Fox also had gotten him more organized to the right kinds of food that he should have been eating while he suffered from the morning sickness.

Brooklyn now offered to babysit Alex more often when Lexington had to be out on patrols.

Hudson had tried going on more patrols, but he was just too old to do it all the time anymore. He got tired easy too. He was just like an old man. So, patrols were more up to Goliath, Angela, Lex, and Broadway more often.

When it came to the ultrasounds, Winston said, "Now that the most critical time of your pregnancy is over, I don't think I need to give you ultrasounds every week. I think I can back off. But I still need to check you and the baby at least monthly. And you can call me if you suspect something is wrong."

"Thanks, Winston." Brooklyn replied.

The baby was starting to look more like a gargoyle all the time. A beak was prominent on its face, like its dad's. The wings and the tail were growing real well. The heart was strong and healthy. There even seemed to be little horns growing on its head too.

Brooklyn couldn't help if he acted like a pregnant female at times. He had mood swings easily. He could be known as hot tempered, but he was still compassionate and caring. He was proud of how his baby was growing inside him. It had used to be a little blob, now it really did look more like a gargoyle, like him to be exact.  
….

From one of the buildings across the distance, another female gargoyle did watch the clan take off nightly on patrols. She was wanting to see her daughter again. Demona was just biding her time, wondering on how she was going to pull it off. She knew from last time that it hadn't ended very well.

When she had used binoculars a few times to see who was going on patrols, she often saw that Brooklyn was staying behind. Most of the time, he would go with them, but he wasn't going anywhere lately. Very curious.  
…..

Winston's team of colleagues really wanted to see how their project was turning out. It might have been his idea to give the baby to Brooklyn, but they just really wanted to know how it was really turning out.

Winston would show them the sonograms that he got off the computers, but they really wanted to meet this gargoyle in person too. But, also among the team was someone who also worked for Anton Sevarius.

With his own money, Sevarius managed to get out of jail. He still worked alongside Demona too. The clan just didn't know it.

Sevarius had been pressuring his man to bring him something new. He wanted new genetic material. One night, he was brought something new alright.

"What have you brought me tonight, Will?" Sevarius asked.

"Winston McGuffin and his team, along with me, have something very special to tell you. I'm sure you know of the red gargoyle?" Will stated. Winston really didn't know about this man working for this pond scum.

"Yes. What about him?" Anton demanded.

Will handed him a sonogram. His boss took it in his hands and looked at it carefully. He saw the body formation. Then, he looked up at him in shock.

"Will, is this…?" he asked.

"Yes. It's an embryo. The red gargoyle may be male, but we've made him pregnant." Will smiled smugly.

"This certainly is something totally new and special. I must have that gargoyle. Bring him to me! The best way to do it is during the day while he's stone." Sevarius advised how to do it.

"Very well." Will replied. "I have been wanting to see the results myself. Winston gets to have all the fun with him."

Sevarius paid the man $3,000 to bring him the red gargoyle. Before he let Will go do the job, he asked, "Why was it the red one?"

"Winston saw potential in it because he's the one gargoyle that looks the most different than the others, with less human features. He also found out more about him personally, to give him something of his own." Will explained. "The red one appears to be lonely."

"Oh, is he now? Well, the new baby should also come in handy for that. But I must have some DNA samples from it." Anton exclaimed.

When Demona came to work with him the next day, she also found out about Brooklyn's little secret. This would come in handy.


	6. Chapter 6

Will and a team of mercenaries were using a helicopter and a collection box to get Brooklyn the next day.

The gargoyles, even Brooklyn, were all out on the parapets like usual. Brooklyn still slept out there with his clan, but they would have no idea this was happening.

Xanatos and Owen were preparing to go start another day of running their business when they heard the sound of a copter outside. They ran back outside and they saw some men putting a strap belt around Brooklyn's stone frame. His belly easily giving away his secret.

Owen went to grab the laser gun that was nearby.

"Hold your fire. Brooklyn and his baby mustn't be damaged." David ordered.

Owen could understand why. They just didn't know who was ordering this.

The copter flew away once it had Brooklyn off the parapet. He was pulled into the collection box carefully.

"We have the gargoyle, Sevarius. Xanatos saw us, but we knew he would hold his fire." Will said.

"Good. Come to Nightstone Unlimited's rooftop." Anton ordered.

"Yes. While he's still stone, or wait until after sunset?"

"Now." Anton ordered. "We must be ready right away to deal with him."

The pilot was ordered to go to Nightstone Unlimited.

Within a little while, Brooklyn was delivered to Demona's job place. His frame was placed gently on a gurney, and he was taken inside to a table in a surgical room. Shackles were placed on his limbs and tail. Everything would tighten the first moment he woke up. Right now, he had a happy look on his face.

The scientists knew he wouldn't be pleased when he woke up and found himself here in his enemy's quarters.

…

That night, David told the clan that Brooklyn had been taken during the day that morning. For what, he didn't know, and he didn't know who it was.

"We will find Brooklyn, no matter how long it takes." Goliath declared.

"He can't be out there in his condition." Angela agreed.

"Let's go!" Broadway said angrily that his bro had been targeted.

The clan all flew off into the night to find the second in command male.

….

At Nightstone, Brooklyn awoke from his stone shell, and after it was off, immediately the chains tightened, pulling his arms and legs down to the table.

Brooklyn's eyes were still crystal white, and now, he snarled that he was tied down.

"Oh, I know. It's not right to be tied down in chains first thing in the evening." Demona greeted him.

"Demona! What do you want?! Let me go!" Brooklyn demanded furiously.

"Not until my partner gets a sample from what you hold inside you." Demona said.

Brooklyn froze and his eyes returned to normal. "How do you know anything about me?"

"A little birdie told me." she teased him.

"Winston?"

"No. Someone else. That is not important." she said.

"And now that you are awake, I can get my sample." Anton Sevarius came into his view.

"Sevarius? You two are working together?" Brooklyn asked in shock.

"Yes. We have been for a long time." Demona replied.

"This will hurt, Gargoyle. Brooklyn, is it?" Anton asked.

Brooklyn saw the maniac man prepare an ultrasound machine. He knew what he was going to do. His swollen stomach was clearly showing the world what he carried. He began to squirm. He didn't want the man to get the pleasure of seeing his child.

"Let me go!" The pregnant gargoyle demanded.

"I don't think so. Demona, if you could get the gel on him and hold the wand till I'm ready with the needle." Anton directed her.

"Yes, Sevarius. This I would like to see for myself how a male such as yourself could even be pregnant in the first place." Demona sneered at Brooklyn.

This made him hate her all the more. He struggled some more.

When Anton brought the needle back with him, Brooklyn got a look at it, and the length of it scared him. No way! He squirmed at his hardest, but wasn't getting anywhere.

Demona stepped forward with a tube. She took the lid off and punched him in the face. It made him stop moving about as she now applied the gel to his stomach.

Tears formed in Brooklyn's eyes as he turned his head to see what happened next. Anton now took the wand and he placed it onto the gel on his stomach to examine the baby.

Both Sevarius and Demona looked on the computer to see a baby gargoyle that looked a lot like its carrier. Then, the man prepared the needle and he aimed it for the spot.

Brooklyn tried to prevent him from getting what he wanted.

Demona had to step in again. This time, she punched him hard in the ribs, causing him to struggle to breathe. His lungs were already beginning to work on overtime, with making sure he got enough oxygen for both him and the baby.

Brooklyn had been sticking close to home the last several weeks. He only glided at home, but now, he knew he needed to get out of here. The weight of the baby wasn't too much at the moment, but it would be soon.

Sevarius found the spot with the ultrasound, and with the needle, while Brooklyn was winded, he poked the needle into Brooklyn's skin on his stomach.

Brooklyn flinched his stomach and grunted at the poke. But the needle was already on its way in further.

Anton poked the amniotic sac and collected some fluid, and then poked a piece of the baby. The baby immediately recoiled, but not fast enough that the maniac had a sample of its DNA. He pulled the needle out slowly.

"What… are you… going to do?" Brooklyn demanded.

"Ooh, just check to see if the baby has any abnormalities. Human women must go through this too, at one point or another. Usually at five months. But thank you for the DNA sample, Brooklyn." Anton said smugly.

"And I think it just right for you to expire and we'll raise your baby in one of those tubes, just like we did the clones." Demona said.

"No! I won't let you!" Brooklyn exclaimed. He began to squirm again. He would be bruised for tonight, but stone sleep would heal him. But he also had to get free and get that sample back. He wasn't about to let these villains raise and exploit his child as their own.

"But what's going to happen to me?" he asked.

"Do you really have to know, Brooklyn? Your baby is going to become the new you on the circuit." Demona declared proudly. "Its had its fair share of you. You're superfluous. Expendable."

"NO!" Brooklyn knew he needed to get out of here, and fast. He began to really squirm in his bonds. "There's no way I'm going to let you have my baby!"

"You don't have a choice, Brooklyn. It belongs to us now. And I'll make sure it's raised to know what humans are really like. An opportunity that was denied me from my real daughter." Demona stated.

"I'm glad you didn't get to raise Angela. She turned out far better than you did." Brooklyn growled at her.

"I'm glad you're not going to live to see another night." She snarled back at him.

Brooklyn began to try to gather all the strength that he could to try to desperately get out of his bonds before the doctor would start taking his child out of his body. It wasn't ready to be born yet.

With strong, deep breaths, Brooklyn gave it everything he had to get free of these shackles. In one ditch effort, the one on his left arm began to shatter and he pulled his arm free. He punched Demona in the face, knocking her away from him.

He made quick work of getting out of his other shackles. He jumped off the table as fast as his reflexes would let him in his condition.

Demona recovered enough that she began to chase him around the room. "Get back here, Brooklyn!"

Sevarius was staying out of their fighting. He was just ready to get the job done. He would remove the baby from the red gargoyle before morning when he was recaptured.

Brooklyn would normally not run from a fight, but he didn't want to risk harming the baby. But the female gargoyle kept on chasing him around the room, making him even take to the air. She followed him. He didn't get the chance to get the DNA sample back.

At one point, she did catch up to him, but he used his tail to whack her in the face. It caught her off guard, but she still pursued him.

He got down to the floor once he found the door and he rammed his shoulder into the door, trying to get out of the room before Demona caught up to him again. He managed to get the door down, and he ran.

Demona proceeded to run after him. "You won't be able to run far in your condition, Brooklyn. You aren't meant to carry a baby anyway. That's a job for me to do."

"I'll never let you have my baby, Demona!" Brooklyn yelled back at her.

He found his way into a different room and saw a window that he was going to make a desperate try to get away. He could feel the weight of the baby was taking a toll on him. But he wasn't going to let his child down.

He ran hard and fast toward the window, and it shattered on impact. When he saw he was outside, Brooklyn quickly spread his wings and took to the air on a strong updraft. He saw where he was too and he would get home.

Demona took to the air after him. She was determined to get the baby.

Brooklyn held his stomach with one arm, trying to support the weight of his baby. He was already breathing hard from all the running and jumping about in the room.

Demona was determined to get Brooklyn back. She chased him over half the city. Her business was a good distance away from the Xanatos building. She was sure he wouldn't be making it back there anytime soon. She knew Brooklyn was fast, but the baby would sooner or later slow him down more.

Just when it looked like she was about to grab him up again, Goliath and Broadway found them.

"Brooklyn!" Broadway called out.

"Goliath! Help! Get her away from me!" Brooklyn saw the two bigger clan mates.

Demona stopped pursuing Brooklyn to know she was outmatched with the other two joining him.

"Demona, why are you after Brooklyn?" Goliath demanded.

"I want his baby!"

"You're never going to get it. We'll see to that." Goliath declared. "Broadway, get Brooklyn back to the castle."

Broadway nodded and he led his brother back towards the castle while Goliath and Demona had a brawl.

Brooklyn would normally love to take her on, but he just couldn't while he was pregnant. The thing was, he didn't know who had told her or Sevarius that he was expecting. But then, he had a suspicion, hoping it wasn't true.

They soon got back home. Goliath joined them soon after. He had chased Demona off. He was alright.

Brooklyn had needed to sit down and catch his breath from the pursuit. He was tired, and his wings were tired from gliding such a distance. He just wasn't used to it anymore. But that was why he needed to keep on exercising his wing muscles. He couldn't let them get weak, pregnant or not.

"Are you alright, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked.

"Barely. Demona and Sevarius, I found out they were working together, and they were ready to take my baby from me. She wanted to raise it for herself." Brooklyn explained.

"We won't let that happen." Broadway declared. "She has no right to do that to you."

"They were going to kill me if I didn't get away. But I'd like to know, how did they even know that I was pregnant?" Brooklyn asked.

"They took you during the day. Someone maybe even we know might have told them." Goliath said.

"I hope it wasn't Winston." Brooklyn said.

"He's going to have a lot of explaining to do when he comes back next time." Broadway declared angrily.

"I agree." Goliath said.

….

The clan soon returned and were glad that Brooklyn had been found. But he seemed traumatized a bit more. He didn't want to be touched or anything.

Angela talked to Brooklyn about what her mother had done to him. When he didn't want to talk to the others, he would sometimes still talk to Angela though. She had a way of comforting him.

"What happened, Brooklyn?" Angela asked.

"They were determined to want to take my baby from me. Sevarius also used a long needle to poke into my stomach and get a DNA sample. And who knows what he would do with it. Make another evil clone?" Brooklyn explained. It made him shiver just to think about it.

"We'll make sure nothing happens to you or the baby." Angela laid a hand on his shoulder. "We care about you both."

"I know. Thanks." Brooklyn said. He really wished she would have chosen him to be her mate.

Once the story was told, the clan and Brooklyn had to decide on some new rules.

While he was pregnant, after tonight, Brooklyn was to be off the parapets until after the birth of his child, so this wouldn't happen again. They weren't going to risk him being reeled in in the daytime again. And he wasn't to leave the castle grounds unless he was with one of the others and had permission.

But, whenever Winston would come over again, he would have a lot to explaining to do. If he was found out about, the clan would make sure he never came back, but if not, he could continue coming by. The choice of punishment.


	7. Chapter 7

Brooklyn called Winston to come by and check on his baby the next night to see if it was okay, since there had been the incident the last night.

Winston was glad to come over and take a look at the baby. He loved seeing the baby gargoyle. It was so different from any other creature he had worked with before. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The clan watched the man warily when he came over. Goliath stood in the exam room with his second in command. Brooklyn was on the exam table, waiting.

"Okay, let me get this fired up here." Winston declared.

"Wait. Before you do anything else, there's something I have to know. We have to know." Brooklyn spoke up.

"What?" Winston asked.

"The real reason I asked you over here is because I had an incident last night with some old enemies. They had me kidnapped during the day, and last night, I nearly lost my baby and my life." Brooklyn explained. "The big question is, who knew I was pregnant and to tell them about it?"

Winston was shocked. He didn't know anything about that, but he knew his team did. Did one of his team tell someone else? He would find out.

"No, Brooklyn. I haven't told anybody else." he denied. "But maybe there is another certain party out there that knows you were pregnant because they did it. You have said you don't know who the father of your baby is, I mean the other father. They might have wanted to frighten you."

"Even if that is true, we won't let anything happen to his baby." Goliath spoke up.

"Of course not. I am your friend, guys. I want to see this baby make it to term and have a life too." Winston agreed with them. "If you're worried about it, then I need to take a look at it. Did they manage to do anything last night?"

"Sevarius poked a needle in me and got a DNA sample." Brooklyn replied.

"Anton Sevarius? Yeah, I've heard of him. He's a maniac. Yes. Let's get a look at your baby, Brooklyn." Winston stated.

Brooklyn looked up at Goliath, and his leader nodded. He then laid back. His belt had to be loosened up now with the swelling.

Goliath watched as Brooklyn loosened his loincloth a bit. He didn't reveal anything private, but it was pulled down some. This would be the first time Goliath was witnessing an exam on Brooklyn's baby.

Winston put the gel onto Brooklyn's stomach and he applied the wand. He began moving it over the swelling to try to find a good look at the baby inside its parent.

Brooklyn tried not to worry about the gooey feeling he was having on his stomach. He tried to distract himself with looking at the computer screen.

"Okay, now we have a good image right there." Winston stated.

The image was brought into focus and Brooklyn and Goliath could see the baby gargoyle. Winston moved the wand over the swelling and examined each part of the baby. He also played the heart to make sure it wasn't stressed.

Goliath could see the baby was almost like a perfect image of its father.

"I really don't see anything harmful done to the baby, Brooklyn. It seems perfectly healthy." Winston confirmed. "But perhaps I should take some of the fluid to examine for any abnormalities."

"No!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "Not again!"

"Brooklyn, I promise, I'm not doing it for greedy reasons. Just for the health of your baby." Winston assured the scared gargoyle.

It was just that Brooklyn didn't want to be poked again in the stomach with that sharp needle. And not so soon.

"It might be for the best, Brooklyn." Goliath said.

"It's too soon for it. I can't take it again so soon. That hurt last night." Brooklyn stated.

"I promise I would do it gently. The sooner we get it over with, the better, Brooklyn. Please." Winston asked for permission.

"I'm sure it's fine." Brooklyn said.

"But it's not worth taking unnecessary chances. I promise I'll be careful." Winston said again.

"Alright." Brooklyn sighed reluctantly.

Winston was glad he had caved. He went over to this bag and retrieved a six inch long needle.

Goliath could see why his second was afraid of the needle.

Brooklyn took one look at the needle and he didn't want to imagine feeling it going inside him. Not again!

"Alright, Brooklyn, I know you don't like this idea, but alright, I won't do this tonight to give you a break, but I will need an assistant technician to give me a hand in this properly. I will expect this amniocentesis tomorrow night. I know someone who can help me out in this, and don't worry, they're trustworthy." Winston explained. "We'll make it as quickly as possible, but I do want to make sure nothing is wrong with the baby."

Brooklyn could sigh in relief that he wasn't getting it tonight after all. But tomorrow night would be something to dread. Winston used a sterile cloth to wipe his belly off, then he was allowed to sit up.

"I still don't want to do this." Brooklyn admitted.

"I know, but it's best to avoid bad health for the baby." Winston said. "Brooklyn, until after your procedure tomorrow night, do not eat or drink anything for the rest of this night or after you wake up tomorrow. I'll be by at 9 to get the procedure done."

"Alright." Brooklyn agreed reluctantly.

The two gargoyles left the hospital wing to do what they were going to do for the rest of the night. At least they had their proof that Winston wasn't part of the posse that was sent to harm his baby.

Brooklyn went to talk to Fox about the procedure.

"Fox, did you ever have a am- whatever done on you while you were pregnant?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, I did. You mean the amniocentesis? I know it's not a pleasant feeling, but it's necessary to make sure the baby doesn't have any health issues." She stated.

"I just had a needle jammed in me last night. I really don't want it done again." he said.

"This time should be different, as it's not being done by a maniac." Fox assured him.

"True. But it still makes me feel uneasy." Brooklyn replied, placing a hand on his stomach.

"It's understandable. But if he's truly your friend, you'll trust his judgment." she said and went about her business.

Brooklyn was still nervous about it.

…

Winston spoke to his team the next day and asked one of the women on his team if she would assist him on the amniocentesis. Her name was Gloria. She gladly agreed. She was liking this project as it was, but she wasn't part of any evil side.

She was a woman who stood 5'3. She had blonde hair and green eyes. She had worked on things like this for over fourteen years and loved this job.

…

The next night, as promised, Winston and Gloria came to the castle to do Brooklyn's exam. She was introduced to the clan and they welcomed her.

Brooklyn did think she was beautiful, but he knew why she was there. He put a protective hand over his stomach. He wasn't looking forward to this.

The clan wanted to know what was going to happen and they were all concerned about the welfare of Brooklyn's baby.

Winston explained what would happen and that he and Gloria would take real good care of Brooklyn and his baby.

This time, it was just the two human doctors and Brooklyn in the hospital ward. They needed as much space as possible to work.

"We'll be right outside, Brooklyn." Angela told him. He nodded.

"I still don't want to do this." he said.

"We know, but go on." Goliath urged.

"Here goes nothing." Brooklyn took a deep breath and went in. The others could only wait.

Brooklyn got on the exam table and laid down. He pulled his loincloth down as instructed. Winston cleaned off his stomach to sterilize it. Gloria was mainly just the assistant. She had all the tools ready to use.

Both humans made sure their hands were clean and put on the gloves needed. A sterilizing oil was put on Brooklyn's belly to sterilize it further for the needle. His head rested on a couple of pillows. He kept his hands on his chest.

The ultrasound wand was prepared too. Winston began to try to find the spot where he was going to take some of the amniotic fluid. Brooklyn couldn't help but look at the screen to see his baby.

"You're not going to poke the baby too, right?" he asked.

"No. I'm just making sure to find the right spot so I don't touch him or her." the man said.

Brooklyn could relax at that. The preparations went on. Soon, everything was ready.

Winston held the wand in place once he found a suitable place to collect the fluid. He now had the needle and he very gently poked it into Brooklyn's skin. Brooklyn winced. "Sorry." the man said.

The needle went further in still and finally made it to the fluid-filled sac. Winston pierced the sac and held it there. Gloria then added a syringe on top of that and she began to draw up some of the fluid.

Brooklyn didn't want to look, but he did look for a moment to make sure they weren't drawing in blood instead. But he saw some pale liquid being drawn in.

After that, the needle was safely and gently removed and Winston made sure to clean up the small wound. It was all done.

"You'll be fine."

"I just never thought I'd have to do something like this. None of this happened to the females back in my time in Scotland." Brooklyn said.

"Yeah, but back then, even human mothers didn't have that kind of prenatal care." Gloria pointed out. "At least to this day, you can have far better prenatal care, and you being a male that's carrying is a bit unexpected, but it is exciting."

"Yeah. Once you get past however it happened." Brooklyn mumbled. He now a small bandage on his belly from where the needle had gone in. He rubbed at it. He knew it would heal in stone sleep. There would no doubt be some bruising the rest of the night. He was just happy it was over.

Winston would plan to call him tomorrow and tell him of any issues.

…

After waking up the following night, Brooklyn took the bandage off his belly and rubbed it. He was now having to sleep in his room. Owen would come in nightly and clean up the mess. This was just one of the safety measures for him.

Dinner was being prepared by Broadway. Brooklyn made the call to his friend. He had to find out the results or else he wasn't going to be able to eat.

"Good news, Brooklyn. Your baby hasn't suffered anything traumatic from the ordeal, and the fluid showed the baby is perfectly healthy." Winston gave his friend the good news.

Brooklyn let out a big sigh of relief. "That's good."

After that, he was able to go to dinner with a clear conscious. The clan was waiting to hear from him too. At the stage he was in the pregnancy now, his appetite had returned and he wasn't sick anymore. He was glad for that. He was now in his 15th week.

At dinner, the clan asked if there were results.

"Yeah, Winston said that the baby is perfectly healthy and didn't sustain any trauma from the ordeal with Sevarius and Demona." he stated.

"That's good." Lex said.

"We can only hope that nothing else like that happens while you are pregnant." Goliath said.

"Me too."

As they proceeded to eat their dinner, Brooklyn's appetite could rival Broadway's at this point. He was grabbing almost everything on the table and eating it vigorously.

"You might want to slow down, lad. You'll make yourself sick again." Hudson said.

Brooklyn did try to slow down, but the food just tasted so good. He had been famished tonight. His tastes had changed a bit, but he was trying to also make up for all the times that he couldn't eat.

After dinner, the clan went on a patrol while Brooklyn stayed home. He had Bronx for company. He wished he could be out there with them. Staying home while there were innocents in trouble just wasn't like him. But he had no choice. He couldn't chance something happening to the baby. It was only for a few more months.

Goliath and Angela went to aid Elisa and Matt on the upper east side with a burglary. Lex, Broadway, and Hudson went patrolling on the west side.

Brooklyn went to the TV room to see if there was anything interesting on. He was real restless. Bronx laid down beside the chair and appeared to fall asleep. The red gargoyle put his left hand down on the gar-dog and stroked him. It relieved some of his emotional state as he flipped through the channels. He could only wait for the clan's return and he hoped nothing happened to them out there.


	8. Chapter 8

When they were on their way back from helping Elisa, Angela had to say, "I wonder why my mother would want to take Brooklyn's baby?"

"Brooklyn has held a grudge against her for so long ever since we woke up here and she used him to get back at me. But I have a feeling she wants to raise up at least one child and teach it to hate humans just as she tried to turn you over to her side, Angela." Goliath explained his thoughts. "But we won't let her have Brooklyn's baby, or any other baby that she plans to do evil with."

Angela understood. But she began to try to formulate a plan in her head to talk to her mother. It had been awhile since Demona had tried to get her to turn against her clan, but this was something that had to be resolved and soon. She didn't want her mother trying to harm Brooklyn again, not in his condition.

…..

After awhile of watching TV and getting bored with it, Brooklyn flipped through some more channels. He soon found a movie called _Junior_ on. He knew of the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger, but had never suspected he would be in a movie like this. As it turned out, instead of him having a wife having a child, it was where he played a man being pregnant himself.

It did get Brooklyn's interest, and some of the conflicts in the movie did make Brooklyn think that he was up against the same thing. He already had been once during his own pregnancy with a maniac scientist. But then, there was the case of who had gotten him pregnant in the first place. What if they would come back for him?

And the ending of when Arnold went into labor startled the red gargoyle. He knew he himself had an artificial womb inside him that was nourishing his baby, but he didn't know if it would affect him like that in the end. It still sent a shiver down his spine, but in the end of the movie, there was a baby girl born. A boy too from a woman. And the relationships in it made Brooklyn long for a female to love him even more.

He sure would love for his child to have a mother to love him or her just as well as him, as the father. And even father her kids someday. He was willing to father more than one, but he didn't think he ever wanted to go through this again.

After the movie was over, Brooklyn felt he was ready to go read more of the book he had been given. He reached over to try to get the remote after having put it down, but then, as he was reaching for it, he suddenly felt a fluttering in his stomach. He had never felt that feeling before.

He tried going for it again and he felt it again. He looked down at his belly. "I hope I'm not hurting you for reaching over like this, little one." Brooklyn said. "But I need the remote." He finally reached over and got the remote to turn off the TV.

He pulled himself to his feet and he felt the fluttering again. It made him put a hand to his belly. Even at this early stage in the pregnancy, he had also noticed other changes in his body too, aside from his stomach. His chest felt weird, like it could be changing, and his skin seemed to feel smoother, softer. His moods most of the time seemed happier when he wasn't under stress.

"Come on, Bronx. You want to join me in my room?" Brooklyn asked the gar-dog.

Bronx perked up. He started begging.

"What? Are you hungry again? Alright. I guess I am too." Brooklyn said and they went to the kitchen. He got a good sized hunk of meat out of the freezer and put it in the oven to warm up a bit. Then he got some bread and ham and turkey and cheese, plus putting mayonnaise on it. He had made himself a sandwich. He also gave a few pieces of ham to Bronx.

When the meat was done cooking, it wasn't too hot. Brooklyn took it out and he fed it to the gar-dog.

"Brooklyn, you could have asked for help if you wanted to cook a meal." A voice came from behind him. It was Owen. It had startled the red gargoyle. Bronx went on eating.

Brooklyn turned to the blonde butler. "Oh, I was just warming it up enough for Bronx. He was hungry. I made myself a sandwich. I'm fine, Owen, really."

"How's the baby?" Owen asked.

"It's fine."

"I have to ask Brooklyn, may I feel it?" Owen asked.

Brooklyn raised an eye ridge. "Why?"

"To just get a sense of the little one." the man replied.

"Alright. But no funny stuff."

Owen went over to him and put a hand to Brooklyn's stomach. He concentrated. Brooklyn watched him carefully.

Owen smiled. "I'd say the baby is doing well, Brooklyn." He took his hand off the belly.

"Thanks." He was glad to hear that.

After that, Brooklyn and Bronx went to Brooklyn's room and they both laid down. Bronx appeared to go to sleep. Brooklyn picked up his newest book and began to read it. It was the one Fox had given to him for the pregnancy.

When he turned to the page he wanted, it made him soften for a moment. He was now currently on the 15th week of pregnancy.

From the look of the picture, the baby looked pretty well developed, and he had seen how well his own was developed on his last sonogram.

The baby should be about four inches long and be the size of a pear or so. It said that even though the baby is doing a bunch of movements too, it shouldn't be able to be felt just yet. But with how skinny Brooklyn was, he was feeling it a little early then.

He also read that he needed to be taking good care of his teeth. Maybe it wouldn't affect him like a normal woman, considering the womb in his body wasn't even a real part of him. But he would make sure to take care of his teeth anyway.

It was the gaining weight part that was scary. He already had a swelling in his belly. But he knew he was going to have to get a lot bigger than that before his pregnancy was over. He still had at least six more months to go, if a little shorter time. He would be monitored closely. He also worried if he would end up nearly as big as Broadway. But Broadway was just obese, and maybe more big-boned too.

Eating smaller meals throughout the night would be more beneficial than three large ones. Brooklyn's appetite had been increasing. He was glad for that, but he didn't need heartburn or indigestion. He didn't need dizziness or headaches either.

He had been feeling some discomfort down in his lower hip area. It was minor though. It was just his muscles stretching down there to make room for the baby. And he was glad that he wasn't being forced to do too much heavy work while he was in this condition. And then there was the risk for preeclampsia. He seriously hoped he wouldn't get a high blood pressure problem.

Brooklyn had already had an amniocentesis and the baby was fine. But he might need to have another one later in the pregnancy just to be sure it was completely fine. It had been a little early for it before. He hoped not though.

He had had no idea there was so much to watch out for in pregnancy. But this was all about human pregnancy of course. But his had had so many similarities thus far.

As his stomach was swelling out, Brooklyn noticed how he had to keep on loosening his belt, or sliding his loincloth down to make room for the baby, but he didn't know how much longer he could wear it.

He later went to Fox to ask for advice on how he was supposed to wear clothes while carrying his child.

"Oh, Brooklyn, I don't think you'll be able to continue wearing that when your stomach gets bigger than that. There are bigger men's sizes in pants and shorts. Shorts might be best for you otherwise." Fox suggested.

"Alright." Brooklyn was dumbfounded. But he knew she made a point. He would have to sooner or later have to wear 'maternity clothes.' But it was still a little early yet.

…..

The man among Winston's zoo med team that was pretending to be a member of the team was thinking about getting the gargoyle back himself and keeping him until the birth. And after too. He wanted to see this special project fulfill itself. He wasn't a gargoyle hater by any means. He was just being greedy about the 'finished product.' He wanted to take all the credit as the one who got the first male gargoyle pregnant.

He began to try to think of a plan how he was going to get the pregnant gargoyle. He was tired of Winston having all the fun of being able to get near and socialize with the gargoyle, and even get to see the baby on a computer screen.

All he knew was that he wanted to get the gargoyle before he got too far along in his pregnancy. It had only been a little over four months. Winston had said gargoyles normally carried eggs for six months, but the red one was carrying a live fetus and it wasn't contained in an egg. It would no doubt take much longer than six months to develop. Maybe even be the length of a human pregnancy.

He began to talk to some other friends of his. They had heard about what had happened some time back with the Xanatos family, with baby Alex getting kidnapped. Perhaps something like that could be reenacted?

The man had his own private facility a few states over. He knew it wouldn't be easy keeping the gargoyle there if he wouldn't cooperate, but he would ensure that he did.


	9. Chapter 9

Two weeks later, at 17 weeks, Elisa was doing her job one night when she received a call from an anonymous source that said that there was a big gang of robbers going to rob the natural history museum that night for many pieces of jewelry and other valuable pieces of history.

Elisa didn't take this lightly and she called Goliath. If there was a big gang robbing the place, it would take nearly the whole clan to take them down.

Brooklyn was in his room reading his book again when the leader came and said, "Brooklyn, we are all going to go to the Natural History Museum to assist Elisa with a possible robbery."

Brooklyn looked up at his leader. "Do you need me to come?"

"No, Brooklyn. With Hudson coming, you can stay here and look after things. I'll leave Bronx with you." Goliath said. "And you are not coming in your condition."

Brooklyn hated the limitations that his pregnancy made him have. "Alright. Be careful."

"We will." Goliath declared and left the room.

Brooklyn sighed. "You sure are taking all the fun out of missions for me, Little One." he said to the baby. He gave his belly a rub. He went back to reading his book.

All of the clan but Brooklyn and Bronx went to the history museum as instructed to see about a possible robbery while the red second in command was stuck at home.

While he was reading the book this night, after Goliath had left, Brooklyn began to get some weird fluttering in his stomach. It made him pause in reading. He had never felt this feeling in his belly before. He had been reading about the possible stirrings of his baby's first movements that he would be able to feel. He had wondered what it would feel like. He might have been starting to feel Junior now.

The thought of it brought a smile to his face. Not even female gargoyles ever got to feel their babies move when they were pregnant because they were inside eggs. Brooklyn knew he would be the first gargoyle to ever feel his child's first movements and without an eggshell!

But outside, someone set up a bomb near some of the bedrooms. Suddenly, the alarm went off in the castle, and even Brooklyn and Bronx were on alert. What was going on? Bronx was just beside his bed, whining. Brooklyn pushed himself up.

"Come on, boy. We need to check out what's going on." Brooklyn stated. Bronx was in agreement and followed his red master.

There was a sound of a helicopter and Brooklyn began to pick up the pace, the gar-dog following. Bronx started growling. They were heading toward the Xanatos bedroom area. Then, they heard an explosion and it nearly toppled them both over because it shook the building.

"Hurry, boy!" Brooklyn ordered and they both ran faster.

Some commandos had jumped into the room and David and Fox did the same thing as before; trying to defeat these maniacs and trying to keep their son protected. They couldn't have known this would happen.

But this time, a huge net was shot out of a gun and it entrapped both of the parents. It knocked them down.

"What do you want?!" David demanded angrily.

Owen then burst into the room and he was shot with a stunner gun, making him fall to the ground.

"I'll make this easy, Mr. Xanatos. Tell me where the red gargoyle is and we can be on our way." The lead man demanded to know.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now let us go!" David ordered.

"Perhaps your innocent little son can persuade you." The man picked up the scared, crying child.

"Let him go!" Fox cried out.

Then, the doors burst open. Brooklyn and Bronx were now in the room. "Spread out, Bronx." Brooklyn ordered.

"Ah, there you are, Red. I've been looking forward to this." The man declared evilly.

Brooklyn growled. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he demanded.

Bronx growled and prepared to attack.

One of the other men took aim at the gar-dog. "Call off your dog, Red, or he'll be shot. And we'll make short work of the baby here." The lead man warned.

Brooklyn knew that he couldn't let that happen. "No! Easy, Bronx. Don't."

Bronx whined that he was being told to stop.

"Good boy. Now as to what we want, we want you, Red."

Brooklyn's eyes lit up. It made him turn to the side, putting his right wing in front of himself, just trying to hide his baby.

"Put the kid down, and we'll talk." Brooklyn said.

"Not until you're over here, now get over here. And keep the beast over there. I mean it!" the man snapped angrily. Bronx had been advancing again.

"Stay there, Bronx." Brooklyn ordered firmly.

Bronx listened. He sat down, whining.

Brooklyn began to get closer, cautiously. He saw there were guns aimed on him and he raised his hands in surrender. He was soon a few inches from them. He also kept his wings low.

"Alright, I'm right here. Now just put the baby down. Don't hurt him. What do you want?" Brooklyn asked.

"You are quite the prize really. You would be so much more than this human baby."

"Gargoyles are now protected from felons like you! Don't you harm him, or I'll make sure you spend a good long time put away in jail!" Xanatos threatened.

"That threat still doesn't deter me, Xanatos." Then the man nodded and one of his other men shot a dart into Brooklyn's left shoulder.

Brooklyn yelped in surprise and pain. He hated needles. He grasped his shoulder. He fell to his knees. His vision began spinning and blacking out on him. "No! Don't… do this…" He managed to say, but he did make sure to collapse onto his side instead of his stomach. His left wing covered his midsection.

Another man also shot Bronx when the beast started to advance again. He had been shot in the head, but he was just stunned.

The lead man put Alex back in his crib. David and Fox continued to struggle in the net. They were determined to not let these maniacs take Brooklyn.

"I got my prize now." The man said proudly, standing over the unconscious gargoyle. He moved the wing aside and indeed, he saw the gargoyle's swollen stomach.

"We got him." He spoke into a radio talker. A net was shot down from the chopper and the few remaining men pulled the gargoyle to the net by his legs. They carefully wrapped his wings and arms into their little bundle and the net was wrapped up and carried Brooklyn away while the men also climbed up a ladder.

Fox and David were still stuck in the net when Owen and Bronx came to from their enforced naps.

"Get us out of this!" Fox ordered angrily.

Owen and Bronx went to work pulling the sticks out of the floor. They had been in deep so they couldn't be budged so easily.

"They have Brooklyn! We have to track them down!" David exclaimed.

"I agree." Owen said. He also checked on Alex and he saw he was fine.

They knew the clan would not be pleased when they heard Brooklyn had been kidnapped in his condition. But what had they wanted with Brooklyn anyway? They hadn't said. They hoped it was nothing bad.

David called Elisa that Brooklyn had been kidnapped and had no idea who had done it, or why at all. He knew she would tell Goliath and he would in turn tell the clan. Then a search for Brooklyn would begin. The clan would never let one of their own be harmed willingly.  
….

Brooklyn was kept sedated on his trip to the facility, and before turning to stone, his body had been maneuvered into a careful position. He had shackles on his wrists, ankles, chest, and legs, going down his body. His tail had even been tied down and his wings had been folded underneath him.

The zoo team man, called Vincent, now examined his prize that he had been waiting so long to see. He stared at the red gargoyle. His breathing was stable. He had a good look at the small, but swollen belly. He knew this one was usually a skinny one in the belly, but he liked the look of the pregnancy.

Vincent gave the stomach a rub. "Soon, my love, very soon." he said proudly. Then, Brooklyn turned to stone for the day.

They finished getting Brooklyn to their facility over in Ohio. Vincent planned to keep him there until the baby was born, and even longer perhaps. But the bottom line was, he wanted that baby gargoyle. And he would plan to use Brooklyn in an ultimate breeding program to create more like him. If he could find a female, he would study gargoyle breeding from that perspective too. One from outside Brooklyn's clan.  
…

The clan had been extremely worried for Brooklyn after they had heard about him being kidnapped. His condition made him extremely vulnerable. He shouldn't have been trying to face those men, but it was in his nature to protect those in his home. He would gladly give himself up to save the humans and protect the castle. But, right now, he had to consider his baby too.

The clan had had enough time to try to conduct a small search before sunrise came, but had found nothing. They would pick up the search tomorrow night. Bronx had been too disoriented following the attack after the shot in the head.

David would get some people right on rebuilding the wall that had been bombed, after police were through looking at it for their investigation.

Elisa and Matt were working on the search during the day, despite how tired they were. They could only hope that Brooklyn would get away from his captors, and unharmed. Him, and his baby.

The baby was still at risk of being exhumed from Brooklyn's stomach by force. There were sure to always be gargoyle haters out there and would find any way to hurt them. And the kidnappers could easily threaten Brooklyn's baby's life if he didn't cooperate.


	10. Chapter 10

After the sun set the next night, Brooklyn roared as his stone skin came off, but he found he couldn't move his limbs or his body very much. His eyes flared white in anger. He struggled in his metal bonds. He was laying on a big table that did allow his wings to spread out at the least.

His arms were strapped down at his sides; his legs tied down, and so was his tail. Brooklyn tried to struggle. He looked down at his stomach for a moment and saw that it was still swollen.

It took some moments before he calmed down and tried to steady his breathing. "Where am I?" he asked in curiosity and fear. He feared the very worst of what the person in charge wanted from him. The swelling made it obvious.

Then, he heard a door unlock from above, and he saw a man make his way down some stairs.

"Hello there, Red. I suppose you're wanting to know why you are here?" the man asked.

"What do you want with me?!" Brooklyn exclaimed angrily.

"What I want most from you is to have you as my trophy, but I also want what you carry inside of you." Vincent pointed to his belly.

Brooklyn's eyes widened. "NO! I won't let you do this! Let me go!" he demanded. He began to struggle.

"You won't get loose. Not unless you're released from those shackles."

Brooklyn stopped for the moment. "What are you planning to do to me?" he asked. His heart was pounding in his ears it felt like. His breathing was heavy. Fear was setting in, but he was trying not to show it.

"You might want to calm down, Red. It's not good for you to be stressed in your condition." Vincent stated.

"Stressed? You kidnapped me! What makes you think I wouldn't be stressed?! Let me go!" Brooklyn demanded angrily, pulling at his bonds.

"Now we wouldn't want harm to come to the little baby inside you, would we?" Vincent warned him.

Brooklyn's eyes lit up. "NO! I won't let you harm my baby! If anything happens to it, I swear I'll kill you!" he threatened the man.

"You're in no condition to be threatening me. You and your baby are my property now. But I do promise this, I swear no harm to befall it. When it's born, it will be my prize." Vincent exclaimed.

"I'm not anyone's property, nor is my baby! My baby belongs to me, and me only!" Brooklyn gave him a glare.

"You don't get it, do you? It was I, and my team that got you pregnant in the first place!"

Brooklyn's expression softened. "What? Why?"

"Being members of the P.I.T. crew, and after how we saw that there was such a small number of you, and since you were the only one of your kind among your clan, I thought of giving you something of your own to continue your bloodline. You can call me Vincent." the man explained. "I know my actions are making you mad, but I had to bring you here, for your own good. What's your name, Red?"

"Brooklyn. If you mean me no harm, then let me go." Brooklyn ordered.

"Not before I can get a look at the fetus." Vincent declared.

A machine was rolled into the room. Brooklyn began to struggle again. He didn't want this kidnapper to see his baby. "This won't hurt, Brooklyn. Now just hold still." Vincent declared.

With being tied down as good as he was in the bonds, there was nothing he could do to protect his vulnerable stomach at the moment.

"Hold still now." Vincent ordered.

"This is only a privilege for me and my clan to see the baby. You don't deserve to see it." Brooklyn made it clear in his words.

"I'm afraid I'll do whatever I want. If you don't cooperate, I'll be forced to take drastic actions."

Brooklyn still wouldn't hold still, and he got out a needle and syringe. The needle was plunged into an arm, and the drug was injected. Brooklyn winced in pain. "I'm sorry, Brooklyn. It was just a muscle relaxer. It won't harm the baby any."

"How do know that?!"

"I'm a doctor. I know. Now, to see that innocent baby of yours." Vincent said.

Brooklyn didn't like this guy one bit. Not only because of him kidnapping him, but because of the way he sounded when he said things. He sure didn't sound like a P.I.T. crew member. They were friends, and this guy didn't seem like a member at all.

The medicine soon had Brooklyn's body almost paralyzed-like. There was nothing he could do as the cold gel was applied, and he winced, baring his teeth. He could still feel around him.

The wand came down onto the gel on his swollen belly, and Brooklyn could only gaze up sadly at the ceiling. Tears came to his eyes. He could feel the wand being rolled back and forth on his stomach.

The man was seeing the details of the baby gargoyle perfectly. He smiled happily. Seeing it was making him feel like a proud daddy. Of course, he could still get that honor if he killed Brooklyn while delivering the baby. But he hadn't wanted to kill the gargoyles at all. He would keep the red adult one alive, for now. Only if he was too dangerous would he consort to killing him.

Vincent proceeded to go all over Brooklyn's stomach to examine everything he was seeing in there on the baby. He even got a look at possibly what the sex was. He smiled even wider. He saw the baby even had wings and a tail too. Horns were also sprouting on the head. The baby was developing very well indeed.

"When I first had you taken, don't worry, Brooklyn. I made sure the medicines used on you were not going to harm your baby."

"You don't know that!" Brooklyn snapped.

"The baby sure is looking like a gargoyle all the time. You'll be here until it's time for you to give birth, Brooklyn. This is your new home. Better get used to it." Vincent declared. "You'll be allowed to do things as long as you don't do anything to betray us."

"Such as?"

"Finding ways to exercise your body and keep you in shape. I know you don't want to be lazy. But given your state of condition, you're still going to gain weight, and we have to make sure you gain the proper weight. You'll have a strict diet and weight management program." Vincent explained.

Brooklyn didn't want anyone monitoring him like a lab rat. But then, what did he know about what he needed to do while he was pregnant? All his answers had come from Fox and the book he had been reading, now he was being denied that opportunity.

After the sonogram, Vincent had some men move him to a cell, where he would be allowed up, but wouldn't get out of the cell for awhile.

Brooklyn wanted his baby more than anything. He wasn't going to let anyone take his child from him. He was just glad that while being tied down, that he hadn't been cut open like what Sevarius would have gladly done.

When the muscle relaxer wore off, he got up off the floor and tried to find a way out. The door was locked securely, and it was very thick, making it impossible for Brooklyn to dig his talons in. He couldn't dig his talons into the wall either. It was gargoyle-proof.

There was a bed in the very back of the room for him lay on, along with a toilet and sink. Gargoyles didn't need a toilet, at least not to eliminate old foods, as all that got eliminated when their stone skins came off at sunset.

After some time examining the room, Brooklyn sadly went to the back of the room and sat down on the bed. He hoped his clan would find him. Or even Elisa and Matt. The bed felt comfortable enough for him, but he still didn't want to be here. He pulled his legs close to his body, Indian-style, and wrapped his arms together, over his middle. He was shielding his belly from the kidnappers. He kept his wings closer to his body too, but not caped.

Brooklyn felt so alone right now. Deciding to continue this pregnancy hadn't been without its risks, but he wouldn't have stopped it for the world. So many people seemed to be wanting his baby, and for what?! But he had also found out that this guy had been the one to get him pregnant. But why?

Vincent had said to give him something of his own, and to have another one like himself, but Brooklyn still got the feeling it was for something else. He really didn't want to find out if there were going to be experiments performed on him or his baby.

Soon, when he got bored, he decided to lay down and relax, since it was all he could do. There was nothing to do in this room. He closed his eyes and didn't realize that he nodded off.

Later, Brooklyn was awakened when his door was loudly being unlocked. He sat up on his elbows real fast, having been startled awake.

Two human males came in, one with a gun, the other had a tray of food and glass of water. The other was just a guard for just in case. The gargoyle watched them warily.

"Here's some food for you and the little one." the one holding the tray said. "Just put it back up here when you're finished. I'll get it later." He set the tray down onto the floor.

Brooklyn hadn't eaten anything all night, but he was wary about the food. He saw that there was some noodles and some meat and mashed potatoes. And some toast, plus a glass of water.

"I assure you, Gargoyle, none of the food is drugged. It's all normal, healthy food. I am a P.I.T. member too." The server said.

Brooklyn heard sentiment in his voice, more than he had heard in Vincent's voice. A small part of him felt he could trust this man better.

The server and his bodyguard left the room and locked it back up again.

Brooklyn sighed. He could smell the food from the bed. He didn't want to deprive the baby of any nutrition. And at the same time, the scent from the food made his stomach voice its demand to be fed too.

It made the pregnant gargoyle blush, and he rubbed his belly. The baby was also voicing itself too when it fluttered inside him as well. If it was just him here alone, he might have declined the food in worry that it would be drugged, despite what the man had said. But with having an additional life to care for inside him, Brooklyn got up off the bed carefully. The weight of the baby was making him have to do things differently in how he raised himself up.

He lowered himself down to all fours, keeping his legs bent away from his belly. He picked the tray up and stood up. He took the tray to the bed and smelled the food, checking for sure if it smelled alright. It smelled just fine, in fact, it smelled freshly cooked.

There was a fork for him to use for the noodles. Another growl from his stomach decided for him. He picked up the fork and began to mix the beef and noodles and potatoes together. He knew how good they were mixed together.

He got them mixed and took a first bite. The food was incredible! He took more bites and waited, but nothing would happen. He ate the whole round of beef and noodles, and added the two pieces of toast. Then he washed it all down with the glass of water.

Brooklyn took the tray over to the door again. It had slipped his mind that he needed his prenatal vitamins too.

He could feel he had a full belly at the moment, somewhat anyway. He did kind of want more though. These days, he had such an appetite, it rivaled Broadway's. The baby seemed to steal most of the food he ate for itself, leaving little for its father.

After having eaten, what Brooklyn wouldn't give for something to do. He really wanted to read more about what he should be doing, but who knows what this crazy guy was going to let him do. Would he ever even let him out of this room?

Later on, the server man came back into the room to retrieve the tray. Then he said, "Oh here. I forgot to give you these. These are prenatal vitamins the boss insists that you take."

"I've been taking them before now." Brooklyn replied.

"Good. The little one needs them." The server replied, and took the tray out. He left the pills in a little cup. They were chewable ones.

Brooklyn knew that as his pregnancy progressed, there would come a time when he wouldn't be able to get down on the floor anymore. Getting up would become a lot harder. His food and pills would need to be given to him from a higher place, such as a table.

He spent the rest of the night in boredom.

…

All of the rest of Brooklyn's clan, Elisa and Matt, and now even the mutates, had joined the hunt for Brooklyn. But there was just no sign of him here in the city. Bronx was even used to see if he could get a scent on him, and nothing. Even Xanatos was doing his best to try to locate him.

Everyone was so worried about what could be happening to him right now. Especially because of his condition. The clan returned to the castle at dawn to get some rest. They would stop it nothing to find anything that would give them a clue as to where the red one was.


	11. Chapter 11

The next night, after Brooklyn broke free from his stone sleep, at least he didn't wake up with shackles on his arms and legs. He was still loose in the cell. Then the door began to unlock.

"Good evening, Brooklyn. Are you ready to begin your exercise program?" Vincent greeted him and declared.

"What sort of exercise program?" Brooklyn asked warily.

"You'll be walking on a treadmill, yoga exercises, swimming, lifting some light weights, just light aerobics and such. Those are safe for any pregnant person to handle. And of course, I do have a dome where you could glide around safely to exercise your wings. I know you'll want to exercise them as well." Vincent explained. "You'll exercise for a little bit, and then you'll be allowed to have your breakfast. It works up the appetite."

"But none of these exercises will be harmful to the baby, right?" Brooklyn demanded firmly, placing a hand on his swollen belly.

"No. They won't put pressure on your stomach. But if you feel something hurting, you have to tell us. If you feel you have to stop to rest, that's fine too."

"Can I be allowed to read too?" Brooklyn asked.

"Of course. I'm sure you want to read about pregnancy?"

"Yes."

"That can be arranged. I'll also work on getting a table in your room so you won't have to keep on getting your food and vitamins off the floor."

"Just what do you want my baby for?" Brooklyn demanded.

"To raise it, but to also see it raised by its parent; you. Who knows if you'll ever find a mate." Vincent said.

"Are you going to release me to go back to my clan?"

"No. You are here to stay. And you are going to be doing your kind a favor by being the first male gargoyle to give birth. You should consider this an honor, more than you know. You could also have plenty more where this one came from."

"I won't stay here and be your lab rat!" Brooklyn retorted angrily. He got up and punched Vincent, then tried to run for the door, but two guards from behind Vincent stepped in his way with guns right in his face. "Whoa!" He raised his hands in surrender.

"My bodyguards are serious about their jobs, Brooklyn. You are not going to be leaving anytime soon." Vincent said, getting up, rubbing his cheek where Brooklyn had gotten him down.

"Alright, you win." Brooklyn agreed. _'For now.' _He said in his mind.

Just for safety precautions, and after what he had just done, Brooklyn was only allowed out of the room if his arms were cuffed behind his back. Vincent assured him that he wouldn't do anything to the baby while his hands were cuffed. He was 'honorable' in that way.

Brooklyn was escorted to an exercise room. The guards stayed in there with Vincent as he prepared Brooklyn for a walk on the treadmill. But the door was locked so the gargoyle couldn't get away.

Vincent had Brooklyn hooked up to a heart and respiration monitor. He took his resting heartbeat first before proceeding next.

Brooklyn felt weird being hooked up to these devices, but the man was insistent on him wearing these things. He wanted to know how they differed from human statistics.

After he was hooked up to the monitor devices, he was directed toward the treadmill first. "From the things I mentioned a bit ago, Brooklyn, we will be doing different activities every day, or come up with a mixture of everything." Vincent stated.

That would be good, to vary up the routine.

Brooklyn was started at a slower pace at first, but as time went on, Vincent kept on moving up his speed. Brooklyn was just walking real fast at that time. Soon, he had to stop because he was getting dizzy.

Vincent was willing to give him the space he needed to catch his breath. And he gave him some bottled water too to make sure he didn't get dehydrated.

He caught his breath and he went on walking on the treadmill for a little longer. About an hour. He was timed, and when it was time to stop, Vincent let him get off and had more water.

Now it was time for his breakfast. Brooklyn felt his energy was more or less, depleted. He panted as he followed the men back to his cell, with his hands cuffed behind him. Once in his room, his hands were released, and a tray of food, water, and pills were brought in for him. The humans left him to it.

Brooklyn picked up the tray and took it to the bed, setting it down gently, but not diving into it right away. He sat there for a few minutes longer. Tears were coming to his eyes.

"I can't believe we're in this mess, little one. I promise I'll get us out of here before it's your time to be born. I won't let them harm you. I swear Vincent is lying to me, to us." Brooklyn said in a low voice. He was talking to the baby.

The baby seemed to answer him as he felt the fluttering in his stomach. Tears came from Brooklyn's eyes. His hormones were making him cry. He still felt so alone, but he still did have the baby for company.

It took several minutes before the red gargoyle dried his tears and began to eat the food he had been served. Then he took the prenatal pills with the water. This would become daily habits for awhile.

…..

Over the coming weeks, as boring as the cell was, Vincent did allow Brooklyn out twice a night for exercises. He would choose what he wanted Brooklyn to do. The nights were not as long as the daytime. So he only got two meals a night, but was offered some small snacks too in between meals.

Walking, swimming, gliding in the dome, lifting light weights, and light aerobics were some of the basics he was allowed to do.

Vincent also gave Brooklyn books to read, especially about pregnancy. He also put a table and chair in his cell too.

Brooklyn had an ultrasound weekly, whether he liked it or not. He hated that Vincent was seeing his child, but he was glad to see how it was developing too. It was getting so big. Its movements were also getting stronger as well. He could easily feel when it kicked him now. His belly had grown some more since getting here a month ago.

At 21 weeks, he was just past his halfway mark.

Doing his reading, he saw the baby was about the size of a large banana at the moment. It was 10 and a half inches and could weigh about 11 or 12 ounces. And the baby could begin to 'taste' the things he was eating. The baby would also be taking in amniotic fluid too. When it came to getting sleep, Brooklyn had some short, small naps too at times, but his real sleep came during stone sleep, so he wasn't totally deprived of rest from a kicking fetus like most other creatures were during pregnancy.

He did notice maybe some stretch marks on his skin from his skin stretching to accommodate the baby. His chest still felt weird in the fact that it might be changing to want to maybe feed the child when it was time, but he still didn't know about that. He knew of formula for babies nowadays, but would it be alright for a gargoyle baby?

After exercising and such, he had to be taken back to his room where he could lie down and support his feet, as sooner or later, his back would start hurting too, besides his ankles swelling up. He had a lot more blood pumping everywhere. He was also being forced to watch videos on finding new ways to breathe too as his body was changing and shifting its balance.

There was so much to prepare for. And the book was right that there were times that anxiety would set in for Brooklyn. He knew he was going to be a father soon, and he knew he had to escape this place before he got too heavy in the belly. For the past month, he had been trying to think of a plan because he wanted to know where certain parts of the building were that might make good escape plans.

He had also began to try to think of names for the child since he didn't have much else to do besides read. He knew he wanted a very pretty name for a girl, and maybe something warrior-like for a boy. Or he could name it after another town or city. After all, he had named himself after the borough of Brooklyn, New York. Being able to look through a name book would have been a good way to decide.

Brooklyn tried to think of names that were towns he had heard of, and even of the places that Goliath and Angela had told him about on their World Tour. So far, he just didn't have the right mentality of thinking of a name. He was thinking on more of just trying to get out of here. He knew he would have to fool the humans a little longer that he was willing to cooperate with them.

Just because he was allowed to do the exercises, read, and had a comfy bed didn't mean he wanted to stay here. He wanted to be back home, with his clan.

…..

In New York, all the searches had turned up empty for Brooklyn. The clan began to wonder if they would ever see him again. They were worried about him and for him.

Broadway and Lexington were still close when Broadway wasn't with Angela or anyone else. Without Brooklyn, they just weren't the Trio anymore. Angela may not have been born of their direct generation, but she was close enough to it that made her desirable for Broadway, or if had been Lex or Brooklyn she had chosen.

Goliath could see how happy his daughter was with Broadway. He gave them his blessing that they could be together. He was happy having his child live with him, and he had seen the joy on Brooklyn's face before he was kidnapped that he was beginning to experience being a father-to-be. Even if how he was getting the baby was rather, unusual. But he still held a strong concern for Brooklyn's safety due to his condition.

Goliath was also worried if he would have to pick another second in command. If Brooklyn didn't come back soon, he would have to. He himself was just targeted so much as the leader of the clan. Someone would have to take his place if something happened to him. But who would it be?

Winston had also been disappointed in Vincent that he had gone and pulled something like this on him. The baby had been his idea, even though he denied any of the doing to the gargoyles about it. He had just wanted to give Brooklyn a baby of his own to love. Not going so far as kidnapping him for his own greed and glory. Vincent might have also had other plans for Brooklyn and his baby too. He just hoped he was alright.

Elisa and Matt, plus the Xanatos family, and Owen had also been looking up anything possible on the Internet for anything possible of a gargoyle sighting that it might possibly be Brooklyn in another city or state perhaps, but there was nothing of the sort. It was hard to tell where Vincent had taken Brooklyn.


	12. Chapter 12

A couple more weeks went by and Brooklyn had finally seen enough of the building, and he knew where he was going to make his escape from. He had found a weak spot in the roof of the dome he had been allowed in. It was in the ceiling, high up. Brooklyn just hoped he didn't have a tracking device on him. As he was preparing for his escape, he felt all over his body to make sure he didn't have one on him. He felt no odd placements under his skin, so maybe he didn't have any?

Brooklyn was tired of all the things Vincent was ordering from him from the exercises and such. He was forced to do them, whether he wanted to or not. He didn't like the man or his team looking at his baby. Vincent had even had an amnio test done on him too, to want to check for any abnormalities that might have been absent before. Brooklyn hadn't liked that and had had to be restrained.

He knew he had been here in Ohio for over six weeks, but he had had to bide his time carefully, to find a way out. He had found one, and was going to take it the next time he was in the dome.

He could feel the weight inside his stomach was increasing more and more with every week, and the swelling was very noticeable. He had to also get away before he got too heavy to glide. Brooklyn didn't know if he would be able to glide accurately if he had too much weight in his stomach. He knew Broadway glided that way, but he was just obese, not pregnant. In his case, it was just temporary.

One day, on his way to do his exercise in the pool, Brooklyn asked, "How far into Ohio am I?"

"Dayton." the guard replied.

"But how far in is it?"

"It's more toward the most west section. Now I will tell you no more." the man stated.

Brooklyn knew at this point that he was going to be in for a long flight. It wasn't too far like California or Florida was, at least. It might just take a couple nights worth of gliding to get home. Maybe three depending on his energy level.

The next night was when he was taken to the dome to exercise his wings again. Brooklyn had no cuffs or anything on him. The dome was pretty high up. He was happy to get the air under his wings and he went around in circles a few times to make sure he wasn't being watched securely.

Two guards stood watch from below. They had stun guns on them if needed. Sometimes they got to talking with each other and it distracted them.

Brooklyn noticed they weren't really watching him tonight after they thought he was going to be gliding for awhile. He smirked and went to the weak spot in the ceiling. He began pulling at it with all he had in him. He grunted at the weight it was. Pieces of the concrete began to fall to the floor as rocks.

The piece finally came loose and Brooklyn let it drop to the ground. When the rock hit the floor, it got the guards' attention. They looked up and the gargoyle was trying to get out!

"Hey! Get back in here!" one ordered.

Brooklyn wasn't listening.

"We will fire if you don't get down here now!" the other warned.

His wings were at his sides as he hurried to get out of the tiny hole in the ceiling of the dome. It had been just small enough to get his body and his especially his belly, through. He had had to pull himself hard to get out. But now, he was free!

An alarm began going off in the building. Brooklyn heard it and he knew he had to get out of here before he was recaptured.

Brooklyn stood up and spread his wings before jumping off the roof. He didn't care where he was going right now. He would figure out where he was later. He just wasn't staying in this hell hole any longer. He was lucky he had found that weak spot in the ceiling.

It felt good to be free. To be out in the open air again for real. No restrictions. No cuffs. He was ready to go home.

He flew a few miles before the weight of the baby began to get to him. He clutched his belly and he began to descend. He landed in a wooded area. He puffed a breath. "Whew! You are starting to get heavy inside me, kiddo."

The baby seemed to respond to his voice with a soft kick. Brooklyn couldn't help but smile. He loved his baby.

"When we get back home, I'm going to get a name book and sit down and decide your name, Little One." he proclaimed. "But first, I have to decide which way is east from here." He began to carefully examine his surroundings.

"It'll be sunrise soon. But I want to cover as much ground as I can before it's time for us to sleep for the day." Brooklyn looked up into the sky and he actually saw the stars. It was rare to see them anymore. He knew to look for the north star.

He saw the north star, and doing some pin pointing, he figured out which way was east. He climbed a tree and jumped off to start his journey home some more. He wanted to get as far away from Dayton as possible. He knew he would have a lot of explaining to do when he got back, but what happened wasn't his fault. Brooklyn hoped Goliath and his clan wouldn't be mad at him for being gone for so long.

Brooklyn flew for as long as he could. He did look at the landscape beneath him far below. It was beautiful. He could see that sunrise was getting close fast. He knew he had to find a place to rest for the day. He just passed over a small town. He flew as fast as he could to get to over the town and out into the country, where he thought to be safe for the day.

He soon selected his spot and landed. He made sure no humans were around, and there was nothing but trees. He glanced up at the sky and the sun began to rise. He sighed and quickly took a pose before he could feel his body turning to stone. He was sure his child would turn to stone too. It was still alive after all.

…

Vincent was more than ticked when he found out that Brooklyn had gotten away from his facility. He could be anywhere by now. But he did know if there was a way to find him that he would be heading on his way back to New York.

A journey done by walking would take longer, but since Brooklyn had the ability to glide, he would be able to make it back there in half the time. Now that the sun was up, he would be stone somewhere.

Vincent was hoping to get him back. They had all day to search for the gargoyle. If they found and got him back, Vincent would make sure that Brooklyn lost his ability to glide, or he wouldn't let him into the dome anymore for a long time to exercise his wings. At least not until the dome was repaired to where he couldn't get out, and a tracker was placed somewhere in his body. He wasn't getting away again!

His men went out and searched all day, but couldn't find a trace of the gargoyle anywhere. Brooklyn had obviously hidden himself well for the day. They would keep trying to find him. But Vincent did send a squadron of his soldiers to New York, to be on the lookout for him.

….

Brooklyn came to life with a roar. He stretched his body and then relaxed. He was rewarded with a well-felt kick in the stomach from his baby, indicating to him that it was now awake too.

He looked down and put a hand on his belly. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he carried a child. A male gargoyle shouldn't even be pregnant, but here he was, pregnant. It was a miracle in itself, but at the same time, it seemed like a curse.

Sure, Brooklyn loved his child, but as long as he was carrying it, the baby had made him a target a lot more. He couldn't wait until the pregnancy was over. But first, he needed to get home.

He looked up into the sky to figure out which way was east again. He was so grateful he had hidden himself well for during the day. He remembered his escape from Vincent's lab and wasn't going to go back. He would never allow his child to be raised in a lab.

The baby began to kick him some more, and his stomach gave off a growl. Brooklyn felt hungry. "I'm sorry, kiddo, but there's no food around us right now. I promise the minute we get back, I'll get us something to eat." He rubbed his swollen belly to try to soothe his baby. It gave a couple of softer kicks and stopped.

Brooklyn spied a nearby tree. He went over to climb it. At the top, he felt for air currents and there was a good breeze going from the northwest. Of course, he needed to be going east. He spread his wings and got in the air.

He went high up into the air. He didn't know where he was, but he would find his way to get back to New York. He was sure he would make it in a few nights, while making sure to keep on the lookout for any suspicious air crafts. Brooklyn knew his wings could get tired, but being pregnant took a lot more energy out of him than usual. There were times when he would go down to take some breaks.

A few times along the way, he landed to catch his breath alongside streams to get some drinks of water. But the stirrings of the baby were beginning to get hard to ignore. His stomach growling wasn't helping either. Brooklyn was sure his baby was saying to him that it was hungry too. When he passed another town, he would try to find something to eat in it while he was there, but for now, he had to move on.

…..

He soon did find another town. It was late at night, like 2 am. Most humans would be asleep at home. Brooklyn tried looking for a gas station or grocery store. He knew he had to meet the nutritional needs of the baby. If it was just him, he would wait to get home first.

Brooklyn hated to steal, but it wasn't like he had any money on him. He had to feed himself for the sake of the baby. Feeding the baby now was a cinch, since it just ate what he ate. But that was why he had to watch what he ate too. Most of the foods he ate were healthy. Brooklyn knew he couldn't eat seafood or caffeinated drinks. He just hadn't wanted to take the chance of something happening. Almost anything else was okay.

He soon found the nearest gas station and landed on the roof of the building. It was closed for the night. He went to the back of the building, looking for cameras. There weren't any that he could see. He carefully dealt with the back door and went inside. He had his wings caped around him.

He went through the store as quickly as he could. He grabbed some peanut butter crackers, some bread, chips and water. He left the same way as he had left. There had been a camera in there filming, but it couldn't see him that well. But the intruder would be long gone by morning.

Brooklyn ran from the gas station and to go find a spot he could eat at. Traffic was quiet here at this hour. He soon found a bare place close to an old, empty house. He wasn't going to go in there, but he just needed to eat his food. The baby was practically trying to claw its way out of him by now to get to the food.

He tore open the chips first and began to scarf the chips down, just to get something into him to try to calm his child. Then, he opened the bread loaf. He wished he had some butter, but no luck. He had to eat it plain. He also began eating the crackers too. This should be enough to tide him over till he got home.

Once he was done eating, he moved onward. He threw out the trash in a nearby trashcan he found back at the same station. He kept the bread and water bottle. Everything else was history.

"Feel better now?" he asked his baby. The baby seemed to reply by rolling around contentedly inside him. "Good. Now we have to go."

Brooklyn was glad to have eaten, satisfied his hunger and to move on again. He found the nearest tree, climbed it, and got into the air again. He was going to make as many miles as he could before sunrise. He was determined to get home.

When light started appearing on the horizon much later, Brooklyn knew he had to stop for the day. His wings were super tired once again. He was ready to call it a night for sure. He hadn't done this much gliding in a long time. He would be sure to be resting a lot once he got home. The baby was making it harder at times to navigate properly, but he had managed.

He was over bare countryside at the moment and found a place to land. He went under some trees. He wanted to make certain that no copters would see him, should Vincent's men be trying to track him down by air.

While waiting for the sun to rise, he began saying, from thinking aloud, "When we get home, I need to start planning your name, little one. And you'll need a bed too."

The baby seemed to reply by kicking him. He smiled and put a hand on his belly. He made sure to put his supplies down too.

Soon, the sun rose and Brooklyn was frozen with a smile on his face. He was proud of his child and how far he had come. He was the first male gargoyle to experience pregnancy after all, and nothing had happened to him, aka like the baby harming him. Only threats from the outside had threatened to harm him.


	13. Chapter 13

That night, when he awoke, Brooklyn felt sure that he was pretty close to New York. He was more than ready to get there. But first, he grabbed up his food supplies and went to sit down under a tree to eat to give him some energy for his continued flight home.

He finished up the bread, and had some more water. The water was all he had now to carry. He was going to carry the bread's wrapper home so he wouldn't pollute.

Soon, he was on his way again.

…

Hours later, around three in the morning, lights appeared on the horizon. The lights were so bright they turned the night into day. Brooklyn had a feeling that he was nearing home.

"It won't be long now. Once we get home, we'll be able to relax and do what we want." Brooklyn stated to the baby. But he had a feeling his clan would be even more overprotective of him once he was back. At least for now, he was fine with that. He had missed his clan terribly.

He already began to look for the Eyrie building. It was near the tallest in Manhattan anyway. All the tall buildings seemed the same size when you were a long distance away, but they began to come into their real sizes as Brooklyn got closer to the city.

At this time, from his escape, he had been so happy for his ability to glide. It got him home faster that walking ever would, and he hadn't had any physical obstacles to deal with, if not counting his stone sleep time.

Brooklyn soon entered Manhattan and he looked for Xanatos' building. He wanted to get there so badly. He wondered if his clan were still looking for him, or out on patrol? He hoped they had missed him. He didn't want another repeat of what happened with the runaway kids so long ago, but not too long ago.

The Eyrie building was finally beginning to take shape in his vision, and his wings were beginning to tire again. He began to speed up his gliding so he could get there faster. He wanted to be reunited with his clan.

Brooklyn may not have had a mate to come home to, but he was having a child and he would make sure that he was the best father that he could be to her or him. At this point in the pregnancy, the red gargoyle felt he knew what he was carrying. His mind pictured a little girl. If it was a boy, he would accept as it was too.

He pictured the child would look a lot like him, but if there was any other parentage, it might also show up on the child too. Only time would tell.

Brooklyn guessed he had flown at least 500 miles in three days after escaping. The tiring feeling in his wings was getting to an almost unbearable feeling. The highest tower of the castle was almost within his reach. He began panting. He felt the baby kick him.

In just a few seconds, he changed his body position to a more vertical one as he began to descend and get his feet on the ground once again. He was more than exhausted when his feet finally touched the castle tower floor. Finally, he could let his exhausted wings rest.

"We're finally home, little one." Brooklyn said happily. His belly was bigger now than when his clan last saw him. He knew they were going to be concerned for him, but happy that he would be back with them. Now, he just needed to find them.

Brooklyn still had time to find them before sunrise. He went down to the Great Hall first. No one there. He checked the Xanatos bed chamber next. It had once belonged to Princess Katherine when she was little. At that thought, it did cross Brooklyn's mind to name his child that if it turned out to be a girl. He was grateful to her for raising Angela so well.

When he looked into the bed chamber, he found Fox playing with her son. David and Owen must have been busy elsewhere.

"Um, hi, Fox." Brooklyn greeted a little nervously.

Fox looked up. "Brooklyn!" She exclaimed in shock. "Where have you been?!"

Brooklyn cringed at her sharp voice. "Dayton, Ohio." he replied. "I was kidnapped."

"I know that. I'm sorry for shouting. It's just the clan has been out of their minds with worry about you. They've been out every night looking for you for over two months. They've barely been back home at all." She explained the situation.

"Well, they can be called back now that I'm back." he said.

Fox did just that.

When everyone heard that Brooklyn was back, they hurried back to the castle as fast as they could. They found him in the library. He had been looking through a baby name book while waiting for them.

"Brooklyn?" Angela was the first one to say his name. The red male looked over at her.

"Hi, Angela." he smiled.

She ran up to him with tears in her eyes. He got up and was happy to hold her in his arms. He wished she was his mate, but she was just concerned about him. His stomach was a little more in the way, but she didn't hold it against him. Tears were in his eyes too.

"We thought we'd never see you again!" Angela sobbed.

"I thought the same thing too. The man who took me wanted to keep me for good." Brooklyn replied, sobbing too. His hormones were making him moody.

Soon, the others joined them.

"Lad, are ya alright?" Hudson asked in concern.

"I'm alright, Hudson, but my baby is getting heavy." He put a hand on his belly.

"Where have you been, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked.

"I was taken to a place near Dayton, Ohio, Goliath. I only just escaped a few days ago and tried my fastest to get back here." Brooklyn explained.

"Did the kidnappers do anything bad to you?" Lex asked in concern.

"No. They wanted my baby, plus more from me too. The kidnappers were the ones who got me pregnant. They thought of my baby as an experiment. They would have done this to me over and over again. They say they wanted to bring up our numbers too, but doing it like that wasn't right. I couldn't handle that. My body is not meant to do this as it is, I know." Brooklyn explained. "I wasn't going to let them use me like a constant breeding machine."

"But what things did they do to ya?" Broadway demanded.

"They did put me on a strict diet and exercise program. Vincent wanted to have me treated almost like a regular person, as long as I cooperated. I did only to bide my time to find a way out. And I won't doubt he will try to get me back. He knows I'll try to get back to you guys." Brooklyn stated.

"It's good you made it back safely to us, Brooklyn, but with as big as you are now, you shouldn't be gliding at all. And from what has happened, I'm going to recommend that other than Bronx, that one of us will always stay here at the castle up until it's time for you to give birth." Goliath explained and ordered.

Everyone was agreeable to it. They still wouldn't abandon their protectorate, but they still had to look out for any one of their clan that was pregnant. Even in this unusual case.

"How far along are ya now, Lad?" Hudson asked curiously.

"I'm in my 6th month, Hudson. It still feels like a lifetime before it's going to be born." Brooklyn stated. Then, he felt the little kick and roll inside him. He grunted. He put a hand to his belly.

"What?" Broadway asked.

"It moved. I think it's saying it's happy to be home too." Brooklyn smiled.

"Can we feel it?" Lexington asked.

Brooklyn felt a little personal about it, but he was so happy to be reunited with his clan that he was happy to oblige.

The baby was moving around inside of him right now, probably because it was just hungry. Goliath and Hudson stayed out of it, but let the three younger ones experience the joy of feeling the child move.

"It's incredible that you can feel it move inside you. I know I won't be able to feel a child move inside me whenever I get pregnant in my first breeding season." Angela admitted.

"Sorry about that." Brooklyn said. "But at least we are getting some new blood into our clan soon. We'll all be busy teaching her things."

"What makes you think it's a girl, Brooklyn?" Broadway asked.

"I don't know. I just feel it."

"It would be nice to have another female around." Angela said.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Soon, it was time for the sun to rise. Brooklyn went to his room while the clan went to the parapets for their daily sleep. After sunrise had come and gone, David and Owen went to Brooklyn's room to see what he looked like since he had been gone for over two months.

His stomach was indeed bigger.

"How much longer do you think, Owen?" David asked. "Before it's time for him to have his baby?"

"If it's anything like a human pregnancy, three or four more months, Mr. Xanatos." Owen replied.

"It's just good he's back. Now his clan can resume a more calmer outcome." David hoped for.

"Let's hope so, sir. Yeah, it hasn't been easy on them while he was gone. But we must keep on a lookout for the kidnappers again, after what they pulled last time to get him." Owen stated.

"Yes. We'll be watching for that." David said smugly.

After that, Owen went on his way while David went to talk to Fox about things that Brooklyn would need for the baby.

"We could just let him use Alex's old crib for the baby to lay in. He could decorate it how he wants to." Fox suggested. "Since he now sleeps in a big boy bed."

"Good idea. I'm sure his clan would want to help out with getting the baby some things too, to be a part of its life as well, to celebrate it coming." the man stated.

Fox agreed.

David also called Elisa and talked to her about it. She was tired from her night's shift, but would gladly talk to him about it later. But she did think it was a good idea. Her red friend would need some supplies for the baby.

….

That night, Elisa came to the castle to have a celebration meal with the clan that Brooklyn was back. She gave him some hugs and kisses to just welcome him back.

Brooklyn was loving this reunion. His clan was always glad to see him if he had gotten into trouble before, but this had been the first time he had been gone for over a month. He was happy for all the attention his friends were giving him and the baby.

The mutates had also been invited too for the meal when they had heard that he was back. It was quite a meal too. Winston was also there as well.

Winston was happy that the baby seemed to be alright, and he wanted to do an ultrasound to just be sure the baby wasn't stressed after such a long flight home. He also wanted to check Brooklyn over too.

The exam was done after dinner was over. Constant ultrasounds seemed so annoying to the pregnant gargoyle by now, but knew they were necessary for awhile longer. Just a few more months that seemed like they were just dragging on and not wanting to get through fast enough for the baby to get near its birthday.

Winston was also happy to be invited to a baby shower for Brooklyn.

David had told everyone in private that there would be a surprise baby shower held for Brooklyn real soon. It might be a woman thing, but with so few female allies, the males were welcome to come to this one. Brooklyn would need a lot of things for his little one.

The baby gargoyle would need some things similar to what Alex had had, so they knew about what some of the things were to get. The Xanatos' had plenty of money to help afford the baby shower.

"Hey, Angela," Brooklyn said.

"Yes?" she replied.

"I know you said that Princess Katherine who helped raise you on Avalon is an old lady now, but I was thinking of naming the baby after her, if it's alright with you, if my baby is a girl?" Brooklyn asked.

"That would be a great honor to her, Brooklyn." Angela replied with a smile.

"That sounds like a beautiful name, Brooklyn." Goliath agreed.

"What if it's a boy though?" Lex asked.

Brooklyn thought a moment. Then it hit him. "Malcolm, like the great first human we ever befriended back in the dark days."

"That's mighty thoughtful of ya, lad." Hudson proclaimed. He thought back to his old friend.

"We owe these humans our lives for being there for us. I know the princess saw us as an enemy up until the night of the clan's murders, but what she did for Angela and us just makes me feel honored to name my child after her, or her father." Brooklyn explained.

The clan was proud of Brooklyn for saying so. They too would be honored for his choice of name.

The clan stayed home tonight from patrols and just partied. They just wanted to have some fun and welcome Brooklyn back home. They hadn't had this sort of fun in a long time. Tomorrow, they would resume their duties. Elisa had had the night off too. She would be back to work tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

**The year in this story is 1997. Since it mentions years and all. **

Brooklyn wished he could be helping the clan patrol and do what was needed to take down baddies on the streets, but he was strictly confined to the castle grounds. Now that he was back, aside from Bronx, unless he was really needed, one of the other clan mates would stay behind with him.

He found it better to be safe than sorry. It might get annoying, but he didn't want someone hanging over his shoulder every moment of every night.

Brooklyn stayed in his room most nights anyway, reading his baby book. Well, he had decided on names by now. Now he just needed to study baby care. That was usually Lex's department. He had become a baby expert while taking care of Alex. He still did.

It was alright with Fox and David if Brooklyn wanted to take care of Alex to get more experience. He did practice some skills taking care of him some nights while his parents went out, at least when Lex or Owen weren't doing it.

This would be the first time the clan was planning a baby shower for one of their own. Normally, baby gargoyles didn't need much. But times had changed, and more human ideas were being adopted to gargoyle customs too. There was so little of what remained of the old, ancient ways of the clan left. Hudson included. He still remembered them though, the most.

Brooklyn's baby would be the first one born to modern day Manhattan. Anymore babies wouldn't be born until 2018, if on regular breeding terms. Unless more were born like this way. The next breeding year was 2008. And Brooklyn and Lexington still needed to find mates for themselves. They hoped they would before that time.

Hudson was so old that he was stuck in the way that he didn't want another mate. Goliath had Elisa now, but would they be able to have kids? Good question.

….

Weeks later, the surprise baby shower was ready. It would take place in the dining area. It had some good space and there was a meal going to be served.

Brooklyn had no idea what his clan and friends had been planning behind his back. They were hoping for a good reaction without causing too much stress to the situation, given how sensitive he was right now.

Brooklyn was now 28 weeks along. He was only at the beginning of the last trimester, but he was in the final stretch of the pregnancy.

Gifts were being brought into the dining area on a table from what the clan and friends had gotten Brooklyn for the baby. Some food was also being served on the table; healthy snacks.

Brooklyn had been in his room reading while the clan was getting the surprise ready. He knew breakfast would be ready soon. His child moved within him and knew it was hungry, like he was. He gave his belly a rub.

When everything was ready, Angela was sent to go get Brooklyn.

"I think he'll like this. Don't you?" Lex asked.

"He should. He was so happy when he got back, all the attention we gave him." Goliath replied. He had been curious to see what a baby shower was all about. This would be the first time something like this was being done for one of his clan and it was honoring the first gargoyle child being born in the 20th century of their clan, in these modern times.

Brooklyn was still reading when he heard a knock at the door. It popped open. He looked up and saw Angela. "Dinner's ready." she said.

"Thanks, I'm coming." he replied. He tried to push himself up. It was getting harder to maneuver just right to get up when he was lying down. Angela noticed.

"Do you need help getting up?" she asked.

"I think I've got it. Thanks anyway." he said, getting to his feet.

They both walked to the dining area together. "So what's Broadway got for tonight?" he asked.

"It's a surprise." she replied with a smile.

When they got there, she got behind him and let him go in first. As soon as the door opened, the lights came on and a big "Surprise!"

Brooklyn was in such a shock, he fell back into Angela. She knew that was a precaution and had been back there. He had nearly tripped on his own feet. He held a hand to his chest, trying to breathe.

"Are you okay, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but what's going on?" he asked curiously.

"You're getting your very own baby shower." Fox stated happily.

Brooklyn saw all his closest friends were there. His clan, mutates, the Xanatos family, Elisa and her family, even Beth. And Owen. This was an event he wouldn't soon forget. He couldn't help it that tears came to his eyes and fell.

"What's wrong?" Elisa asked.

"This just, makes me so happy, guys." Brooklyn replied, smiling even though he was crying.

"That's good. We thought you were upset." Broadway said in concern.

"That's normal for something like that to happen." Fox stated. "Pregnant people can't help it when they are so happy for something like this to happen for them."

"So, what's first?" Brooklyn asked.

"You were asking about dinner. Let's have dinner first." Angela said.

"Sure." he replied. He wiped his tears away and he was the first one allowed to get a plate and take what he wanted first. The others joined him right after.

There was some dinner amid the healthy snacks on the food table. Brooklyn gathered a bit of everything, it all looked and smelled so good. The others were marveled at his appetite, as he usually didn't eat that much food, but the baby usually made him eat a lot more.

He finished getting what he wanted and sat down at a spot at the table. The others got what they wanted too and joined him. The dining room table was full of guests when they were all finished getting seated and eating.

There were conversations throughout the dinner. It lasted for quite awhile.

There weren't going to be games, as the gargoyles mostly wouldn't know most of them. Then, it was time for the gifts once dinner was over.

There was a crib, Alex's old one, as he now slept in a big kid bed; some blankets and clothes, in case the baby would need them at least in cold weather. It was getting cold out. There were some books, tapes, a rocking chair. All things that would seem to be needed for the baby's care.

"Thanks for all these great gifts, everyone. I'm sure the baby will appreciate them." Brooklyn stated after the party.

"We were happy to be there for you, Brooklyn, to help make you more prepared to give your child a happy new start in this life." Elisa hugged him.

"I know I get to see what the baby looks like all the time on every ultrasound, but I still can't wait to see what he or she looks like in person." Winston complimented.

"I'm sure it'll be real cute." Beth commented.

"Thanks, Beth." Brook replied.

Brooklyn was loving this attention, meaning he knew his clan and friends were trying to be there for him and his baby.

Afterwards, everyone disbanded around the castle or went home. Goliath had called for a short patrol too after one. Brooklyn watched his leader, Broadway, Lex, and Angela take off for the patrol. Hudson and Bronx were still here with him.

He could only go walking around the castle for something to do since Hudson was once again, claiming the TV for himself for the rest of the night. But when he couldn't seem to find anything else to do, he went back to his room to do some more reading.

…

The clan returned before sunrise and they all got in formation. The patrol had just been a gentle go tonight. Not too many trouble makers out, but the few that were had been stopped.

Brooklyn was still in his room and saw the light on the eastern horizon. He pushed himself up off the bed and got into his usual daytime bedtime stance. It wasn't long before he and the clan were stone for the day.


	15. Chapter 15

**Contains topic of breastfeeding. **

Time went on. Many weeks later, Brooklyn was now at his 34th week.

His stomach was huge by now. By estimation, he only had close to six more weeks of pregnancy left. He was so ready to have the child. By now, he knew it was going to be a cesarean birth. He didn't have the right exit from his body for the baby to be born like from a female. But unlike a woman, he would only be sore for a couple nights.

Yes, the surgery would carry its risks, but with his stone sleep, he would be healed in just a couple of nights.

Brooklyn tried to keep busy with how he would handle things once the baby came. He had some nesting instincts by now that demanded cleaning the whole castle, top to bottom. He just wanted a safe, clean environment for the child.

Alex might have been a little older, but he would be close enough in age range for Brooklyn's kid to play with. He hoped they would be good friends in time. They would be raised like siblings, so to speak, as close as a human and gargoyle children could be.

….

Elisa was happy at seeing Brooklyn becoming a parent, even though he didn't have a mate to share his love with, even though she knew he wanted one. But she began questioning her own love for Goliath in that she wanted to have a baby with him too. To give him a chance at raising a child with her. Sure, Goliath had Angela, but he hadn't seen her grow up.

She brought it up with him one night, and he said he would love to have a baby with her, if it was really possible. When they were ready. First, they wanted to see what things happened with Brooklyn's baby. It was Brooklyn's time to be showered with attention and love and excitement for the arrival of a new life in just six weeks. At least with estimation.

…..

The baby just got bigger and bigger over the next five weeks, and it made Brooklyn feel so heavy. His back hurt, and he had problems with swollen ankles. He was glad that he hadn't had anymore freak encounters with humans or rogue gargoyles who would want to take his baby from him. It could stand a chance of survival if born now. It was full term that Winston had deemed it.

Fox had given Brooklyn advice all throughout his pregnancy on things to expect. And most things had worked out that way. Of course, there just wouldn't be labor pains.

Winston came over weekly at this stage to just monitor the baby. It was doing well.

When he came over to do this ultrasound, the clan was invited into the exam room to see Brooklyn's baby.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Winston asked.

"Yes, but I'm waiting till it's born to reveal the name." Brook said.

"That's your choice. I'm sure it's a beautiful name. Names can seem to determine a lot about a person's personality first." Winston stated.

"Really?" Lex asked.

"Yep."

"Winston, I'm so uncomfortable anymore, I really need this baby out of me. I can barely get up on my own anymore. It hurts to breathe. It's kicking into my ribs. My back hurts so bad and my feet swell up. That's never happened to me before. I'm in bed constantly and I just want to do things again. Please. I think it's time for my little one to come out." Brooklyn explained why he was ready. "Sure, I'm afraid of the surgery part, and the risks that have been described, but I'll be healed in a day or two."

The veterinarian could see the gargoyle's point of view. "Well then, perhaps it is time we made you a father!" Winston smiled.

"Really? You're gonna do it?" Brook asked.

"Yes. But I need my medical team together first to make sure that we do everything right. The surgery will need more than one person. I will talk to them tomorrow and let them know, and I'll call Xanatos and let him know. In a night or two, you should be a new dad."

"That will be great for Brooklyn." Angela said.

"It'll be good for us to all take care of a hatchling again." Hudson said.

"Well, he or she technically won't be a hatchling, Hudson." Brooklyn pointed out.

"I know, lad. Just saying meaning the baby." the old one replied.

"It'll be great having some new life in the clan." Goliath smiled. It was like he was being a new dad too.

"The baby looks so cute on the computer." Broadway said.

"Yep, they do." Brook said, tears coming to his eyes. He saw the baby had his horns and beaked face already. It looked like a basic gargoyle as all the body parts were shown.

"Do you really want to wait for the birth, or do you want to know the gender now?" Winston asked. "I can see the gender."

"Really?" Brooklyn asked.

"Can we please?" Lex asked.

Brooklyn had waited nine long months for this moment. But did he want to know before birth to be sure? "Yes, I want to know." he replied.

"You have a daughter on the way." Winston stated.

Brooklyn couldn't be happier.

"Congratulations, lad." Hudson said.

Everyone went on to congratulate him proudly. He was so happy his clan was there to support him since his case of pregnancy was very out of the blue.

"Thanks, everyone." he declared. "But I'm still not revealing her name until after she's born."

"That's fine. It's your child." Goliath said.

"Do you think you'll breastfeed her? You do have a slight look of your body adjusting to your condition." Winston asked.

"I don't know." He looked at the clan. This was so personal. "It would be unusual for a male to nurse a baby, ever. It was always done by females."

"There is formula too if you're wanting too, but I would suggest at least one or two natural feedings to get much needed colostrum." Winston stated.

"What's colostrum?" Lex asked.

"The first milk that comes in. It's only around for the first day, or night. After that, with regular feeding, the real milk comes in. It has valuable antibodies for the baby to build her own immune system against diseases and such." Winston explained. "But you could combine breastfeeding with formula too, so anyone babysitting her could feed her while you're out patrolling in the future."

This sounded so strange to the males of the clan, and even to the human men. But it was the red male that was making this choice.

"Well, I… I do want her to have a good immune system." Brooklyn said. "If I do do breastfeeding, it'll only be in private though."

"That's fine. Your choice." Winston said. "But like I said, I'll talk to the team tomorrow and they'll get on board. You are at the right stage to where she can survive outside your body now."

"Thanks, Winston, for everything." Brooklyn thanked him.

"I'm happy to do it. She'll be a little treasure, at least until more baby gargoyles come along." the man said.

The ultrasound was finished up, and the heart was listened to as well. It had changed over the pregnancy, but was almost no different than a human's, if a little different. But no one had ever kept accurate records of gargoyle pregnancy over the previous years, except just maybe the humans and gargoyles of Japan had, since they were a close knit community combination over there.

But Brooklyn wasn't going to go all the way to Japan to deliver his child. He had done well here. He was so uncomfortable at this point. Goliath and Broadway had to help him get up off the table. When he laid down, he usually could only lay on his sides. The baby pressed more into his internal organs when lying flat on his back.

The clan dispersed after that. Brooklyn went to his room to read about c-sections. He wanted to be prepared.

….

Goliath called Elisa on her ear phone. "Brooklyn is having the baby in a night or two." he said.

"I knew he was getting up there and more than ready to have it. I'll be happy to be there to support him." Elisa replied.

"We also found out tonight that it's a girl." he said.

"That'll be good for Angela. I'm sure she feels lonely being the only female in the clan. She'll be like a big sister for her." she expressed her thoughts.

**The baby will soon arrive! **


	16. Chapter 16

**The birth. Didn't go into too many gory details as much as possible. Just basics. And also watched an education video on an epidural, how it was given. Breastfeeding topic again. **

The next day, Winston went to the zoo and talked to his medical team.

"It's been nine long months waiting for the moment to deliver Brooklyn's baby. Are we ready?" he asked his team. "He's more than ready for her to come."

"She?" one asked.

"Found out it's a girl last night." Winston said.

"That's great! Another female in the clan for the other one to interact with. Could also mean more babies sooner too." the man said.

"Gargoyles age at rather slow rates compared to humans. They age only half as fast as we do." Winston explained. "So, it'll be a long time before she's ready to be part of any breeding program."

"So, do we want to do it tonight, or tomorrow night?" Winston asked.

"We have a banquet tonight, Winston. Don't tell me you forgot?" Gloria asked.

"Oh, I did. I'm sorry. That's fine. Two more nights won't hurt him none." he replied. "I'll let him know, and he can read some more to get prepared for what we have to do. And to prepare ourselves for it as well."

Later that night, before going to the veterinary banquet, Winston called the Eyrie building and told Owen that the surgery would take place in a couple nights' time for Brooklyn.

Owen said he would let him know.

….

That night, after Brooklyn and the clan awoke, though he was in his room again, just as Owen came in nightly to clean up the stone sleep mess, he came in with an announcement this time.

"Brooklyn, your friend, Winston called today, and said that he and his team will be over tomorrow night for the delivery. They were busy tonight." Owen explained.

"That's okay. Thanks, Owen. At least I know they accepted his offer to do it for me. I wouldn't have a way of having my daughter otherwise." Brooklyn replied.

"They should be here before sunset to get things set up for you, and they'll get you set up. Did you read what they would have you do to get ready?" the man asked.

"Yes. I'm nervous, yes. But I am more than ready for this." the gargoyle said.

After that, Brooklyn went to tell Goliath and the others. They would have their breakfast and the clan would head out on patrol. Tomorrow there likely wouldn't be one.

He told them during breakfast and they were thrilled for him, as well as nervous for him as well. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong tomorrow night.

…

The next day, just prior to sunset, Winston and his medical team arrived at the Eyrie building to get set up for Brooklyn's c-section tonight.

David watched them get set up. He was just making sure that nothing funny was going down. After all, one of Winston's team had kidnapped Brooklyn for his own gain before. But they all worked diligently to get it all set up.

And a short bit later, they were done as the sun went down and there were roars from all over the castle.

The clan and Brooklyn came to the medical ward shortly after. The clan would wait out in the waiting area. Elisa was also here. She had said she wanted to be here to support him too. It was her night off as well, luckily.

Brooklyn had his hands cupped to his belly, looking down at it.

"Are you alright, Brooklyn?" Elisa asked.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I just can't help but think how far I've come in this pregnancy to get to this moment. I thought it would never get here. I'm so ready to see the face of my daughter, but can't help but be nervous about the surgery." Brooklyn explained.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." the dark haired woman said.

"You'll going to be a father tonight." Broadway declared proudly. "And we get to be uncles." he smiled.

"We'll be happy to babysit anytime you need us to." Lex stated.

"Thanks, guys, for being here for me." Brooklyn replied.

"Brooklyn, we're ready for you now." a blonde woman came out and said.

The red gargoyle took a deep breath and let it out. He walked over to where she was. He took one last look at his clan and friends and they all smiled and gave thumbs up to him. It was a silent way of saying good luck. Then the door closed. This was it.

The clan could only sit down and wait to hear from someone of the outcome.

…

Brooklyn was taken into the surgical room where his vitals were all taken first. Then he was asked to take the loincloth off. It was just part of surgical protocol.

"Brooklyn, we're going to have you remain awake through the surgery." Gloria started.

"That's going to hurt." Brooklyn was startled.

"No, no. You won't feel it at all. We're going to give you an epidural. We just feel it's safer this way. And you'll get to see your baby sooner." she explained.

"Al- right." he agreed hesitantly. "But, what's that?"

"You'll get an injection into your spine. Your lower body will be numb to pain." Winston spoke up.

"I've been shot in the back with a dart needle before and I didn't like it too well." Brook said.

"This will be done slowly and with way more care than that was, Brooklyn. Rest assured." His friend stated.

"We also need to get a needle into a vein in one of your hands to administer medicine." John, another part of team, said.

"Okay." Brooklyn replied.

A vein was located and the needle put into it on his right hand. Then he was taken to where he sat on the table and the sight of the big six inch needle almost made Brooklyn faint. That was going to be injected into his spine!

"Don't look at it." Winston said. "Come here, just lean this way." He took Brooklyn's hands and pulled him over just lightly. "Just breathe."

Brooklyn was a little tense. He felt a cold, wet cloth rubbed on his back, and his hair pushed out of the way. Then, he felt pressing on his spine to find the spot. When it was found, he tried to just breathe through it as he winced when he felt the needle pierce his skin.

"It'll be over shortly." Winston said. He saw the gargoyle had his eyes shut tight as he was feeling it going into his back.

The needle was pulled out shortly after the drug was administered. A catheter tube was still in his back. Then, Brooklyn was helped to lay down onto his back, exposing his stomach to the vets. Sterile sheets were put over his body, just leaving his belly exposed.

Brooklyn began to feel his lower body growing numb. He couldn't even feel his legs. He watched the medical team get the rest of their bearings. One of the team ran a brush on his belly. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"That." she pointed to the brush.

Brooklyn shook his head.

"Well, the drugs seem to be working."

Everyone was all in sterile garb now. They had washed up and had gloves on. A sheet was raised in front of his face. Gloria stayed up by Brooklyn's head to keep him calm and talk to him.

David had witnessed his own son's birth back at the time. He was still in the room to just make things ran smooth, but he stayed out of the way. He would let the doctors do their jobs.

Brooklyn's arms were laid out to the sides of his chest. He just tried to breathe.

"Relax, think about the baby." Gloria coaxed. Brooklyn nodded.

Brooklyn's stomach was sterilized and the surgery began.

…..

In the waiting room, the clan was concerned greatly for Brooklyn and his baby.

Broadway had taken to pacing. Hudson was sitting down. Bronx started whining. Even he knew there was something going on. "It's alright, boy. Brooklyn will be fine." the old gargoyle rubbed behind his pet's ears.

Goliath was standing and just waiting patiently.

Angela and Lex were nervous and anxious. Fox was in there too. Owen was babysitting Alex. The little boy knew the baby was going to be born tonight. He was just too young to be in here. It was just time for him to be in bed.

Elisa just watched the clock. It had been a half hour since they took Brooklyn back.

….

The docs worked as quickly, but sincerely as possible. They went in and cut into the artificial womb. They got the baby out. Brooklyn just tried to concentrate on breathing.

It wasn't long before Brooklyn could hear baby cries. He could still raise and move his head. "How is she?" he asked anxiously.

"She's good and big, Brooklyn. She has your color! Your looks! Even a patch of white on her head behind her horns." Winston exclaimed excitedly.

"I want to see her." he declared.

"They're getting her wrapped up and cleaned up first." Gloria declared.

One team took care of the baby while others kept on working to get the womb out of Brooklyn and clean up the blood lost.

He had felt pressure and such while in surgery, but he hadn't had to do anything. He had left the surgery to the doctors.

Soon, the baby had been weighed, cleaned, and wrapped up in a blanket. A pink one. She had stopped crying by now.

Winston took the baby over to the table where Brooklyn could see his daughter for the first time. "Here's your beautiful daughter, Brooklyn." the man was smiling behind the face mask.

"So, what's her name going to be?" Gloria asked.

"Hi, Kathryn. I'm your dad." Brooklyn smiled, raising his left hand to touch her for the first time. "When can I hold her?" he asked.

"Right after we get you into a bed to rest." Winston replied. He took Kathryn back to the bassinet.

"Where are you taking her?" Brooklyn asked, suddenly anxious.

"She's just in her bassinet, Brooklyn. She's fine." Gloria said. "The team is finishing up with patching you up first."

….

The patching up was finally finished and Brooklyn was wheeled to a room. The feeling in his lower body was starting to return. But he was pulled across from the medical bed onto the resting bed. It was a fun ride there.

Brooklyn was tucked into his bed. "Now, when can I hold my daughter?" he asked.

"Coming right up." Gloria said, smiling.

Winston came wheeling the bassinet into the room. Brooklyn waited with anxiety as he wanted his baby. His friend picked up the cooing baby and brought the pink bundle to him.

Brooklyn happily took her into his arms for the first time. He couldn't believe he was seeing her for the first time in person. It seemed like a dream.

"Hi, Kathryn. I'm your father." Brooklyn smiled. He kissed her immediately. "I've been waiting so long to meet you."

The baby girl did indeed have his looks tremendously. There was still a question of who the mother really was, but it was something to worry about for another day.

…..

David went out and told the clan. "It's a girl. Brooklyn's holding her now."

"How did everything go?" Goliath demanded.

"Everything was fine, Goliath." David replied.

"Can we go in and see them?" Angela asked.

"Yes. Now that they are settled into a bed and bonding." the man replied.

The clan was more than ready to go see Brooklyn and his baby. They were allowed in.

When they got to the room, they found Brooklyn gently rocking his baby, and kissing her. He looked at the clan.

"Awww!" They all were in awe of the sight before them.

"I have my daughter, finally." he smiled at them.

"We see that, lad." Hudson stated.

They came over to get closer looks. Bronx was to stay in the corner. He could see her later.

"She looks just like you, Brooklyn." Lex said.

"So, what's her name?" Elisa asked.

"Everyone, I'd like you meet Kathryn." Brooklyn declared.

"Welcome to the clan, young Kathryn." Goliath greeted with a smile.

"How are you feeling?" Angela asked.

"I don't feel much of anything right now. Just happy. Happy that she's here with me." Brook stated.

"She's beautiful, Brooklyn." Broadway smiled.

"Thank you. Just thanks for everything, everyone." Brook said.

Not long after, Brooklyn let the clan hold his daughter. It was one special night for them all.

When it reached time for Angela to hold her, Brooklyn spoke up, "Angela, I want you to be her god-mother." he said.

"Really?" Angela was shocked.

"Yes. You're like a sister to me. And you'll probably be the biggest influence on Kathryn. And I also named her after your surrogate human mother to honor her as well." Brooklyn explained.

"I'm sure Katherine would feel honored by that as well, Brooklyn. Thank you. I'll be happy to be her god-mother." Angela smiled.

"Now that we have all got to meet Kathryn, let's leave the new father and daughter to bond some more." Goliath urged.

They all waved at each other. It was nothing but happiness this night.

Brooklyn was left to just hold his daughter. He couldn't stop looking at her. He eventually unwrapped the blanket to look her body over. Almost everything in his looks was passed on to her as well.

He also looked down at his stomach too. It had gone down tremendously. But he still had baby fat on him. He would be healed tomorrow night. But it would take time, eating carefully, and exercising again to lose all the fat he had gained during his pregnancy. Hopefully, this was just a one time occurrence in his life.

Later, Winston and Gloria came into the room to put Kat into her bed for a small while for them to put a bandage over Brooklyn's stomach where the stitches were.

"I think it's time for Kathryn to have her first meal." Gloria declared.

"Really?" Brooklyn asked.

"Yes. Even if you decide to feed her formula, she should at least get the first milk from you. To start building a defense against diseases." Winston explained. He could possibly feel some anxiety since this gargoyle was a male, and unaccustomed to the idea of nursing, which always fell on females usually.

"Alright, I'll try it, but not to say that I will the whole while." Brook agreed.

"That's fine. At least just during her first twenty-four hours so that she gets good colostrum." Winston stated. "Every couple of hours."

The first time latching on was a bit of a battle, but eventually, Brooklyn was soon feeding her the way the mothers would. But he thought that it was only going to be just for tonight. Then he would be feeding her formula.

Some of his male ego was just still there. And anyone could respond to feeding her with formula.

Some bottles were already being filled in the kitchen for later to be warmed up. But it wouldn't start until tomorrow night.

Kathryn would be the first baby gargoyle nursed on formula of what was left of the Wyvern Clan. Kat or Katie would become her nickname.

When dawn came for the first time for Brooklyn and his baby girl, Kat also turned to stone too. Her gargoyle inheritance was just about everything.

The medical team left, but Winston stayed to keep an eye on things for the day. He had seen it. The baby was also part human, but clearly more gargoyle, like her father.


	17. Chapter 17

The following night, Brooklyn was healed from the wound in his belly. He gladly took the bandage off and Winston gave him and Kat an exam to make sure they were both alright. Brooklyn's stitches had fallen away with the stone skin, so he had no wound in his belly anymore.

Kat had survived her first full night.

Brooklyn was glad to be able to move about again as he pleased, but he was still a little sore from last night. Just that his joints had been so used to the weight of his child. Now it was gone and a little shocked. But now, he was out of bed for sure and feeling like eating. He was ready to have his own first meal again that he wouldn't have to share.

Kat was fed from a bottle tonight first to get her used to it.

"So, are you going to continue breastfeeding her?" Fox asked him.

"I just feel it's a male thing. No. I'm not. It was just for last night to get the antibodies into her." Brook said.

"That's good." she agreed at least.

"Alex is welcome to meet her anytime." he said.

"Thanks. Later on." Fox stated.

…..

At dinner, Brooklyn was happily eating all the food he wanted to. His daughter was sleeping off her formula meal, but for this first official night, he didn't want to let her out of his sight. She was on a blanket in the corner of the dining room. She had a diaper on, from just a human ego thing. Even if she didn't go to the bathroom in it. A hole had even been cut in it for her tail.

Everyone was glad that Brooklyn was having a fast recovery, but then, that's what it was for gargoyles usually. He would still stay in tonight.

Elisa was working tonight, but she called the building to tell him to have fun with the baby tonight.

After dinner, Alex was introduced to the baby girl.

"She so small." Alex stated in his little boy voice.

They all laughed. "Yes, she is. She'll be small for some time." Brooklyn said with a smile.

"When she can play with me?" Alex asked.

"It'll be awhile, big guy." David replied, picking up his son. "A couple of years at least."

"Aww! I want playmate." the boy whined.

"You still have us." Lex smiled.

David handed him to Lex. "Let's go play one of your favorite games." Lex said.

"Alright, Uncle Lexy." Alex laughed.

Lex took Alex to his room where they would play with his toys.

"Brooklyn, you can stay here for tonight. The rest of us are going on patrol." Goliath stated.

"Alright, Goliath." Brooklyn replied.

"Actually, lad, you can have the next full week to stay home and bond with her. And to make sure you fully recover from surgery." Hudson declared.

"Okay. Thanks." the red one replied. "I'm sure I'll be fine in few days though."

"We know, but since you just had Kathryn, you need some more time to bond with her." Angela added.

"We'll be back soon." Goliath said. The rest followed him.

Brooklyn and Lexington were both staying in tonight. Even Bronx was being taken out on patrol with them.

Brooklyn picked up Kat gently and took her into the TV room to watch some television. He would be doing a lot of things with her now. It was so nice to not feel weight inside his stomach anymore. He would now condition himself to lose the baby fat he had on him.

As he watched some favorite programs, he watched his daughter sleep peacefully, until it was time for her next feeding.

She woke up and started getting squirmy from inside her blanket. Kat started whimpering before it started to turn to a small cry.

"It's alright. Daddy's here." Brooklyn tried to comfort Kat. "What's wrong?" he asked. He knew he would have a lot to figure out from sounds that she wanted.

He checked her diaper, even though he knew even baby gargoyles didn't naturally go to the bathroom. All the body waste was thrown away with shed stone skin.

Then, remembering it had been a couple hours, she must have been hungry. He looked around cautiously, and knew what he could do. He knew he wasn't female by any means, but his body had responded to his pregnancy before.

He put Kat to one breast and tried to nurse her. If he were to do this, he would only do it in private. He felt too personal about it around anyone else. Kat latched on to him and suckled.

"Alright, Kat. I'll feed you like this sometimes, but only when we're alone together." Brooklyn stated.

Kat just went on nursing until she was full. Then, Brooklyn put a cloth over a shoulder and burped her, just like a human newborn. He had practiced while pregnant with this. He had felt her burp last night, so he was a little more used to it now. It took a little bit, but she burped.

Brooklyn knew that many of his old habits would have to change now that he was a father. He would always be willing to protect the citizens of New York from enemies, but he would be more careful now that he had a baby to take care of at home.

He went on letting her sleep and nurse the rest of the night until around sunrise. He would make sure to keep Kat in his room for now, but he did want to share the first sunrise outside with the clan real soon. Maybe next week.

…

The clan returned shortly before sunrise. They wanted to see Kat before they were to report to their bedtime spots.

"How did you fare with Kathryn tonight?" Goliath asked.

"We did good. It's hard to take my eyes off of her, she's so adorable. So… beautiful." Brooklyn admitted proudly.

"As any new father would think of his child." Hudson smiled.

Brooklyn just felt so happy. "Thanks, Hudson." he replied. He just couldn't be happier right now.

"It's time for sleep." Goliath said.

"You coming, Brooklyn?" Broadway asked.

"Not today. I just want to be with Kat." Brooklyn replied.

"Alright."

The others could understand.

"It might take him awhile to feel like being outside with us again on the ledges. Kathryn needs to kept hidden." Angela explained. "He won't want to leave her for a long time."

They all got to the walls and met the dawn. Brooklyn and Kat from his room.

…

Vincent had not been pleased about Brooklyn's escape so long ago, but he knew he would just want to be with them. He would just keep trying to get away no matter what, so he gave up the matter altogether. He would still continue to be a gargoyle admirer though.

….

Brooklyn had his first week of paternity leave after giving birth to Kathryn. After the first couple of nights, his stomach felt a lot better after the surgery.

Now that the first week was past, Goliath wanted Brooklyn to start his clan's duties again. He was to start assisting on patrols again, but most of all, exercising and training again.

Brooklyn hadn't had to do that sort of stuff for so long that yes, he felt out of practice with it. Goliath, Angela, Lex, and Broadway would help put him through his paces. Especially air acrobatics. It was time to get back in shape again for patrol, and just being a gargoyle away from the castle.

Brooklyn had a few hurt feelings, like he was abandoning Katie. His bonding hormones for her were still strong. But he had to learn to let go a little bit. He knew he could trust the others with her. When the clan would take him out for his training exercises, Hudson or Lexington was usually babysitting. Even Angela, but all the clan tried to take turns watching her. She needed to know they were all family.

After a few more weeks, Goliath thought that his second-in-command was ready for his real first patrol in many months. Brooklyn was pleased that his leader thought that he was ready again. He did want to go out and protect again, it was just still hard on him to leave Katie.

"She will be fine, Brooklyn. Kathryn couldn't be in more capable hands." Goliath said. "Come."

The red male kissed Kat goodbye. She was now in Angela's arms. "Stay safe." she said.

"You know I'll do my best." he replied. He turned to leave. "Daddy will be back soon, sweetie."

Kat cooed up at him. Her little hands tried reaching for him. Brooklyn wanted to take her back so badly, but knew he couldn't. "I have to go. Be good for Auntie Angela." he said softly and left without looking back. He heard Kat start to break down, but Angela started to calm her down.

This was so hard on Brooklyn to have to part with her anytime. He knew she could be a little handful sometimes when they didn't know what she wanted, but they all loved her nonetheless. By now, at three weeks past birth, they were all beginning to understand what her sounds meant.

…..

With her busy schedule, Elisa couldn't do much babysitting. But she was happy to drop by to see Kat too. Seeing how cute she was was making her think about wanting her own child soon. But being a police officer was a full time job too, as well as a way of life. It ran in her family.

Her own parents had managed to raise three kids, her being the oldest. But of course, her mother had not been a cop. Her father had been a cop, and had made it to being Sergeant.

Elisa just wondered what kind of a mother would she be while going on to be a cop? Cops could still be parents, but a full time job took a lot of time away from children raising. The gargoyles were all warriors and in the past, had managed to raise offspring. But, here, in modern day Manhattan, this clan had never raised babies before. The only one who had was Hudson, and his age was not in his favor.

The Trio had never been fathers, well, except for Brooklyn now, but he was only starting out. Angela had never been a mother, just as her own mother had never been around her growing up, nor had Goliath, her father.

If Goliath and Elisa were ever able to have a child together, it might take some magic to get involved to be sure. But then, Goliath would end up taking care of their child most of the time. Unless Elisa gave up being a cop. But being a cop was her life, aside from loving her friends.

Elisa knew that during a pregnancy, there would have to be many things to sacrifice. She would most likely have to resort to an office or desk job to just keep the bills paid. In the bigger stage of pregnancy, there would be no way she could handle big stressful action. She wouldn't be able to stop bad guys in that position.

This was just all stuff to consider. She wasn't really ready yet, but it was just consideration.

…

Broadway and Angela knew that they wanted to be parents one day as well. If something happened to Brooklyn, he had made them god-parents after all.

Lexington wanted a mate of his own too, but he was so busy with Alex lately being his little buddy that he wasn't lonely at this time. He also liked watching Kat too when it was his turn.

Alex admired the little girl gargoyle, but wished she could play with him.

Fox would also babysit when needed. She would watch her when and if the whole clan had to be out dealing with some baddies out there.

David was a real busy man running his own businesses. But he always made time for his own son every day. He had a look at Kat too when he could.

Hudson was more like a grandfather and spoiled the little girl so much. She was so innocent in his eyes. Of course, she was. But he knew that she would make a mighty warrior one day. He might not be around to see it, but he would try to live for as long as he could.

Bronx had been allowed to sniff and smell Kat by now, but Brooklyn was still careful about letting the gar-dog near her completely. He was a lover at heart always, but he could make mistakes without realizing. He just had to be supervised around her.

…

The patrol that first night had been a good one. Quite a few muggings. Brooklyn had missed it all, but there was nothing he liked better than coming home safe to his daughter now.

…..

Winston still came around to see Kat too. She was just a precious little thing to him. That's what he had wanted to see, and the clan had welcomed her with open arms. She was just the first step in a future generation.

Now, he knew that Brooklyn just needed a mate to be a mother to Kat. He hoped he would find one in time for the next breeding season. Lexington too. But he wasn't going to interfere in anymore surprises like this.

He was still a vet, and he had examined Kat's blood too. She was healthy and all, but she wasn't all gargoyle either. She still had human DNA in her as well.

One night, he was doing an exam on her, and Brooklyn had asked about it.

"Does her DNA have any clue as to who her mother is?" Brooklyn asked him.

"No, it doesn't, but it does show she is part human too." Winston replied.

At least Brooklyn could rest assured it wasn't Demona. But obviously, those men who had attacked him and Lex back at the beginning had used a human woman's egg, used his seed to fertilize it, and implanted it into his body. There was some woman out there that was Kat's mother, but he had no idea who it was. Maybe it had just been an anonymous egg? That was just a guess though.

"Don't let it get to ya, pal. She looks enough like you that most other gargoyles won't know she's part human." Winston declared, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. I'll try not to. When our clones were still active, the only female, Delilah, she looked like a gargoyle, but had Elisa's DNA too. Sounded like her too. But she was still my worst enemy, Demona's clone. So, I have known what a gargoyle-human looks like. Not much different." Brooklyn explained.

"Have fun taking care of her. We can only guess at how fast or slow she'll grow up. But it'll be all worth it to have new life in the clan for you." Winston stated.

"Yeah. And I still want to find her a mother though." Brook said.

"I'm sure you will, in time."

"Thank you, Winston."

"No problem."

Brooklyn took Kat out of the exam room, ready to have her for tonight.

Winston packed up and left the building. He knew his friend valued time with his baby girl.

…..

Life would always have its harsh times in the lives of the clan, but now, with the gargoyles declared an endangered species, they could truly begin to live their lives as normally as possible. And there would be trouble for trouble makers trying to do away with them.

Brooklyn was glad that he had a daughter to enrich his life now. He wasn't as lonely having Kathryn to care for, but still longed for a special female of his own. And he was glad Vincent hadn't come after him again. He didn't want anything forced on him, as did none of his clan. He still preferred a gargoyle mate, but still would accept a human woman if she was willing to accept who and what he was.

He knew he would always have adult duties outside the castle, but he would always be there for his daughter when she would need him. His clan would do their best as well to help raise her, since she was the first baby gargoyle in over 1,000 years for the Wyvern clan, though now dubbed the Manhattan clan.

Someday, in the future, there would be more baby gargoyles. But it only took so long to have the eggs and the long ten year incubation. And there was always the chances of having done it how it had been done on Brooklyn. But that was something that the other males were not volunteering to do.

And Goliath and Elisa would plan on their own baby for the future too.

Life was grand in the castle for the Manhattan clan. They all wanted it to last forever.

The End

**Sequel is in the making. This story just needed a closing. Thanks to all those who read it, especially to ChelleNorland and Missbelle, being the top reviewers! **


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